Keeping Bees Cool

[jaytemple]

We have 2 hives (started in April) that share a wooden pallet on blocks. They are by a wood fence that shades them in the morning (not prefered I know but was best location given all conditions) but they get full sun most of day. Some local beekeepers have said you should do something to shade the hives when the temperiture gets to be over 90 degrees F. but I see alot of pictures of unshaded hives in hotter areas than ours. Also read about shimming top for more ventilation (besides the vent notch in top cover). Any opinions on shading and or venting? do you screen top venting to close off unwanted access?

JT

[lstclair]

You can shim the top so there's air flow, take off the entrance reducer, if it's still on, and make sure they have access to water. Other than that, I'm sure they can take care of themselves better than we can in this heat!

[mobees]

I love it when it get hot, my bees seem to draw comb real
quick. I hope its hot all week I need um to draw a few more
boxes out for later.

[John D.]

I cut 2 slits near each end of the inner cover about 10 in by 2 in running crosswise across the frames & duct taped screen from a bee package box over the slits & put popsicle sticks on the edges for the telescoping cover to sit on. The screen from the package box seems to be small enough to prevent the SHB easy ingress & egress and large enough that the bees haven't shown any interest in propolising it yet. I wish I knew what size that screen is & where I could get more of it. Also, I can feed the bees over the regular inner hole cover & not inhibit any ventilation.