Barometric pressure and bees

Summerbee · June 11, 2006, 05:14:49 PM

I have often heard that bees become irate and anxious when the barometric pressure is dropping, and not to mess with the hive then. Right now, rain and wind bands from tropical storm( soon to be hurricane) Alberto are here. All day long the bees have been going beserk. There's a cloud of them in front of the hive, not going anywhere, just crawling all over and headbutting you if you come withing 20 feet. As soon as it started to get windy and rainy, the all marched back inside and seem fine. Just wondered if anyone else has seen this correlation or heard of it?

Understudy · June 11, 2006, 06:27:10 PM

Quote from: SummerbeeI have often heard that bees become irate and anxious when the barometric pressure is dropping, and not to mess with the hive then. Right now, rain and wind bands from tropical storm( soon to be hurricane) Alberto are here. All day long the bees have been going beserk. There's a cloud of them in front of the hive, not going anywhere, just crawling all over and headbutting you if you come withing 20 feet. As soon as it started to get windy and rainy, the all marched back inside and seem fine. Just wondered if anyone else has seen this correlation or heard of it?

Any science on this? I live in Florida too but my bees are being pretty normal.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

Brian D. Bray · June 12, 2006, 01:07:12 AM

My experience has been that storm clouds, et. al., can cause the bees to get proddy. Wait until it blows over and then take a look after a day or so.

cphilip · June 12, 2006, 02:56:34 PM

Saw this same activity last week about a half hour before a Thunderstorm moved in.

they know... not certain its pressure or just sensing changes and rain or electical charges or something. But they do know.

Understudy · August 30, 2006, 08:11:57 PM

Hi Guys I am bringing up this old post since TS Ernesto decided to pay a visit. I was very keen on watching my hives and my bees.
First and foremost TS Ernesto was a whole lot of nothingness. There were not the heavy rains or winds that you would get with a category 1 or better. Also the heart of the storm went futher west and we were spared most of the storm.
We did get some good winds though. The occasional 30 mph /45 kph did sweep through. So I got to watch the bees during this. The one thing that struck me was that the bees didn't beard at all. The bees went into the hive. They lined up against frames and that is how they positioned themselves.
Here is the best part. The bees were still gathering pollen.
While there were gusts for the most part the winds weren't overwhelming. So the bees went and gathered pollen. I did see the gusts kick up and blow a few against the hive but the bees took in stride. The thing I found fascinating was that the bees completly relocated themselves against the walls of the hives. When I skydive one of the things we do is press ourselves against the side of the plane to hold ourselves there until all the divers are in position. The bees that were getting ready to go on flight would come up to the edge of the entrance and wait for the wind to die town and then take off. Even if the wind kicked up right after they were already in flight. It was interesting to watch.

Next time I want to watch during a catergory 1 storm.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

Brian D. Bray · August 31, 2006, 12:22:05 AM

For a catagory 1 or higher I would suggest you use a chair with a safety belt on it so you don't blow away. :)

Jerrymac · August 31, 2006, 12:55:09 AM

You talk like 30/45 mph wind gusts are really something. That is everyday living in the spring time around here. And if you looked at my pics..... No trees. The bees hoover close to the ground and come up near the hive. Good windy day the hives look sort of like comets, a tail of bees on the lee ward side.

Mici · August 31, 2006, 07:14:41 AM

Because of Italians, we have one nasty and almost special wind here. well it's only in a few valleys closer to the sea. anyhow, the italians cut down all the oaks-for Venice (few hundred years ago) and so enabled the air currents to do their job. it's coused when dry-cold air from the continent meets moist and warm air from the sea. anyway, it occurs all year long but is most noticable in the cooler half of the year. it doesn't blow stadily it's pounding is what it makes it so nasty. the average of this "sock" is measured ---95kmh.