I have about five hives that are BOOMING, I have them in three deep brood boxes and there is brood and bees in all three....I also have two honey supers, (mediums), on top of the three brood chambers, the bees have one super completely filled with capped honey and the second super is about half filled. I plan on placing a third super in a couple of days.
Here is the problem....its been hot here in SW Georgia the last three or four days with 93 degree plus heat, and its forcasted to remain hot for a while. The bees are bearding significantly, I have drilled one inch diameter holes in all three brood boxes as well as placed a spacer between the super and the top cover to allow even more ventilation. What else should I do? I do plan to make splits from the hives, but I was wanting to wait till after the flow was over. Thoughts?
Can you shift the supers back about 3/4"? This should leave an "upper entrance" of about 3/8" in the front - past the lip of the top brood box. The back would be a snug crack ( facing down) with the inside edge of the upper box right at the backside edge of the top brood box.
This gives them a nice wide upper entrance and extra ventilation for nothing more than your effort. You can place a strip (or two short ones) of wood across some of the gap, if you are concerned about rain or robbing.
You could plug the 3 holes and let them use the entrance in the inner lid and the bottom board. Then set back and enjoy that beautiful beard until ready to split. Or give them another super.
I love a large beard on my hives.
bees beard so that they can open up the pathways between the combs.. IE, instead of being plugged with bees, those spaces are open, and they can circulate air. Beards dont hurt anything. You will see them on trees and buildings where there are feral hives as well. The bees actually attempt to keep the brood between 92 and 98 degrees, so outside temps in the 90's are not an issue, the sun beaming on the hive when it is 95 outside, making it 105 degrees inside can be an issue, so they move out of the way of good airflow causing the beard.. they are also bringing water into the hive and evaporating it for the swamp cooler effect.. if the frames were plugged solid with a lot of bees they could not circulate the cooled air.
Thanks for the info....I feel better about the hives bearding up. It has been a great spring for me and the bees this year. Lots of bees and a great bloom and flow.
My observation has been that sometimes they beard to keep the temp down in the hive. Is this true or or not?
""My observation has been that sometimes they beard to keep the temp down in the hive. Is this true or or not?""
Absolutely............
It's like a large group of people in a room on a summer night. It won't be long until they begin to go outside for air and let the room cool.