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Question about adequate ventilation for hive screened shut

1K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  KQ6AR 
#1 ·
I have an urban beehive, and we have tree trimmers working in our back yard today near the hive. Last night I made a screen for the entry out of 1/8" wire mesh and installed it late last night after the bees were all settled in for the night, and added a flat piece of the same mesh to cover the oval hole in the center of the inner cover. (I also ran a strap around the hive to ensure that nothing would shift if the hive got bumped) This morning I took off the outer cover to expose the screened hole in the inner cover. Much to my surprise, more and more bees have been coming home throughout the morning, and I now have several hundred confused bees on and hovering around the entry trying to figure who messed up their foraging plans with mesh. (I'm surprised that many stayed out last night)

So here's the question:

I'm in the San Francisco bay area (south peninsula), and the weather early this morning was light overcast, currently 63 degrees, rising to a forecast high in the mid 70's. Is this enough ventilation not to worry? They will likely be cooped up until late afternoon, and then I'll put on my bee suit and remove the screens.

First year beekeeper, and the hive has been doing great so far this spring, growing from an overwintered NUC of 8 medium frames a month ago. The hive is currently 3 10 frame mediums, top one 50% drawn (probably another super early next week).

Thanks for any input!

-Knute
 
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#3 ·
The tree guys finished that side of the yard about 2, so I gently smoked and removed the screens. They bearded up the front of the hive about 18" and festooned of the end of the landing board, and clogged the entry- bees were clawing to get in and out, tipping each other over. After about ten minutes, they started dragging out dead bees, but not an enormous number; probably as many as they would have dragged out all day but they'd piled up. 30 minutes after that, the hive looked fairly normal again (normal flying traffic), and the bearding started to dissipate.

It would be neat to have a thermocouple inside the hive to know when to assist with ventilation, or at least to see how much the temperature changes during the day inside the hive. There's lots of talk about how drawing new wax wastes honey, but I have to think they can waste a whole lot of energy fanning to compensate for poor ventilation.
 
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