Robbing screens and ventilation?

[Mikey N.C.]

Q , i thought I'd ask , if you install robbing screens (plastic or screen) here in the south,  dearth comes early,  so if you are feeding 1:1 sugar water or 2:1 in late fall . How do bees fan water off honey stores?  (To Cap)
Or is it heat transfer in hive that does this for us here ( hence ventilation in top ?)

[Mikey N.C.]

How do they regulate temp. in hive in August, September with the high temps. we had this yr.

[neillsayers]

Good question. I'm tuning in, cause I don't know.

[Mikey N.C.]

I'm not well educated enought in bee survival going into fall an winter here in the southern  U.S.
Their is lots of undeveloped land here, if i have 8 hives from Ga. ( bought nucs) that boom in the spring and summer and treated with OAV.  When dearth hits and robbing begins. Using robbing screens  is what is told. If some of your hives are splits from original hives that don't have time to build stores , how do you keep those hives alive (feeding rite) which creates robbing which i see, they are not my bees, dark black thorax dot and tipped tails and fighting. I've been told to add robbing screens ( point of first Q asked, how do they regulate temp.) now if bees that are robbing are feral ( and of mixed DNA , then what do they do to for survival)
As no one is reducing there entrance or treating.
Is it that everyone ends up with a DNA thats sustainable in his or her condition?

[riverbee]

"How do they regulate temp. in hive in August, September with the high temps. we had this yr."

mikey, the bees regulate high temps using water and fanning the hive. they keep the temp constant and from overheating. to your last post, the bees also maintain a constant temp in the hive in a clustered state in cold weather and extreme cold temps.  i can't give you the scientific or an explanation of how they do this, but it is amazing, especially when it comes to our extreme temps in winter.  if apis wasn't busy with fairs and such, he could explain this far better than i can.

i have fed bees in dearths. both pollen sub and sugar syrup. bees can suffer from both pollen and nectar dearths. robbing screens on or entrance reduced to the very smallest. feed goes on top of the inner cover with a 1 gallon pail and covered with an extra deep. pollen sub on top of the frames. even so, sometimes weaker hives can be robbed and not just by other honey bees. for me it's other honey bees and not feral. i sometimes try to 'equalize' my hives. if i know and see that i have a really weak hive in a dearth, she gets supplemented, or combined with a stronger hive. the hard part is, given time and a good flow, the queen in the weaker hive would do just fine. (from a divide, etc). so i either supplement, combine with another, reduce it to a single, or move it or lose it. doesn't happen very often.  when dearths come along it makes us all think on what to do, be aware of our environment, the queen, the history of the hive, and make a decision on what to do.

bees can manage ventilation and heat/cool quite well, whether it be hot summer or cold winter, entrance reducer on or not, robbing screen on or not, wide open entrance in temps below zero, insulated on top or not, and they will propolize anything shut they don't need.........

all i can say mikey from my own experience is bees are pretty hardy and survive pretty well IF they are healthy, have a good queen, and have the resources necessary to do so. sometimes we give them a little help, it's figuring out what exactly that might be. that's why we need to pay attention to what is going on in our hives and what is going on in our environment and do what is necessary to help them along when need be. we all live in different environments and locations. i can't give you the advice you might need for your environment and location but i can share with you  how i sometimes deal with the same challenges as you do in my environment and location. sometimes just a little adjustment. find what works for you.

hope this helps, you ask great questions.

[Lburou]

Not much to say after riverbee's answer, but I put my best guess after each of your questions below...

- When dearth hits and robbing begins. Use robbing screens...? YES
- How do you keep those hives alive (feeding rite)...? YES, but feed inside the hive and don't spill
- Which creates robbing which i see...? YES, sometimes
- I've been told to add robbing screens...YES, but leave enough entrance opening for air circulation...I use hardware cloth with a small opening to reduce entrances all summer, until I put the wooden one in for winter.  I move what I need to when treating with OAV.
Is it that everyone ends up with a DNA that's sustainable in his or her condition? Don't know how to answer that.

Bees don't need much of an opening, even on hot days to cool the hive.  Sometimes, I put hardware cloth over the top ventilation hole to slow the robbers there too.  If you have a hive losing the battle to robbers, move it to another location at sundown, or during the day if you can stop the robbers from coming with the hive to the new location.  JMO  HTH   

[rcannon]

The bees bring in gobs of water on hot days. I've seen them gathering water from the critter troughs at daylight. They store in in the hives and the act of fanning causes the water to evaporate, which cools the hive. Just like all of us when we sweat.
I keep all my hives in FULL sun to help with the beetles. Full sun in Florida during the summer is brutal, but the bees do just fine. Don't worry too much about them, they survive despite us trying to help them.