bearding in the rain at night

[shan777]

Anyone ever had bees bearding at night in rain???
It was a very humid night.
Wasn't sure how normal it is.
They were all bunched together on front of hive putting up with the rain. Sitting on the front porch as its known....

[iddee]

They need either space or ventilation, or both. They will beard when the whole cluster cannot get inside without creating too much heat.

The rain doesn't bother them, as they will spread their wings to form a "tent" to shed the water.

[shan777]

wow, aren't they amazing little creatures.
Room shouldn't be an issue, new colony, going strong, but just put 3rd deep on. Might be the ventilation issue. Maybe some screened small holes in the bottom deep???

And thanks for helpful reply

[iddee]

Maybe just a shim under the lid.

[shan777]

a shim? Sorry, newbie :-)

[iddee]

A sliver of wood or something on the rim of the top box, to hold the lid up 3 or 4 mm, just enough to let air escape. A coin on each front corner will work.

[shan777]

ah yes, i did have paddlepop sticks for that but they fell off and i got lazy :-) I'll put them back on. Thanks again.

[Lone]

Thanks Shan,

You helped to answer my same question.  We've had a few recent storm warnings and with the hives bearding so much I was wondering what to do if there was a storm blow to the entrance.  They do have a corrugated iron shelter to stop some wild weather.  I ended up putting another super on the main offender and there haven't been any problems. 

Are you in a flooding area in NSW?

Lone

[bernsad]

We've had a few recent storm warnings and with the hives bearding so much

You know when you're reading fast and you just skim over something to get the gist of it? Well with a handful of "W" words leading up to it I read this as the "Wives bearding so much" and I thought, at least I'm not the only one with this problem! :lau:

[Lone]

Please direct your wife to this informative and inspiring website.

http://www.gillette.com/en/AU/home.aspx

"...after one shave, you'll stop shaving and start gliding"

Glad to be of service.

Lone

PS maybe you should wead more slowly.

Crikey I am laughing so much I can hardly press Post.

[Harpo]

 X:X
:-D
X:X

Bahahahhahaha too funny!

But am guilty of skim reading too  ;)

BUT am now able to enjoy NOT one But 2 paddle pops in order to make a "shim"...

hang on... I may aswell do all the hives.... I'll get a box... for the sake of my bees  :-D

[Lone]

You are going to do ALL your hives, Harpo....shave all the bees' little beards off...??!

  :-\

Lone

[Michael Bush]

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfaqs.htm#bearding

[Harpo]

You are going to do ALL your hives, Harpo....shave all the bees' little beards off...??!

  :-\

Lone

HHmmm I could try  ;)

Offer them a leg wax to boot  ;)

Mainly just wanted a reason for my hubby as to why I had to eat his whole box of Paddle Pops....

[annette]

What are paddle pops??

[bernsad]

Paddle Pops is a brand name for an icypole or icecream on a stick, not sure what you call them in your part of the world. Their mascot is the Paddle Pop Lion.

[iddee]

popsicle

[iddee]

[bernsad]

That's the one, iddee, and popsicle, of course, I should have remembered that from all the American tv we get over here.

[annette]

Well that looks better than that vegimite you have over there (which I tried by the way :-X)
Yeah, I could happily eat that.

:-D :-D