Tomorrow I may move them into larger quarters, despite the fun of the idea of a "tree" hive.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Maybe Tower Place isn't a Good Idea
Our nights in Atlanta are still relatively cool. I woke up this morning to find a beard on Tower Place. What will it be like for the bees when we DO have a Hotlanta night?
Tomorrow I may move them into larger quarters, despite the fun of the idea of a "tree" hive.
Tomorrow I may move them into larger quarters, despite the fun of the idea of a "tree" hive.
I would put the new box on the bottom.
ReplyDeleteLinda, if I'm reading right, I understand you to say that the meaning of this formation is that the bees must need more room. Is there any other possible explanation? I installed my first hives just Saturday and I witnessed this exact formation last night. Clearly my bees have enough room. Why would my bees act just like yours if the package was just installed?
ReplyDeleteNo, it means the bees are hot. My nuc doesn't have a screened bottom board. In Atlanta I use a screened bottom board and a slatted rack on all hives and still in the hot weather, the bees beard - which means that it's too hot in the hive and some bees are sent outside to lower the temperature. In addition it means that the bees inside are using up valuable energy fanning the hive to keep it cool enough. I don't want that level of inefficiency, so I moved them to a hive with a SBB and slatted rack. This morning, no beard.
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