If you happen to be a honeybee and your hive gets hot — and trust me, it’s been hot for them too lately –  it’s considered improper behavior to just buzz down to the local DQ and dip your proboscis in a cherry Mr. Misty.

Instead, you’ll likely be called upon to help air condition the baby bee nursery. If the wee ones get too toasty, they won’t develop quite right, so sometimes all hands (or in this case, feet) need to gather water to take back to the hive to use as a sort of misting system to beat the heat. In the photo below, it may look like the bees are taking a dip in the lake, but they’re not soaking. They are using the closest water source for the good of the colony.

Of course, it’s not uncommon to see honeybees doing a bit of hanging out on the front porch of their hives fanning their wings either. Like humans, they are probably hoping to catch a slight breeze, or maybe just clearing out of the house so their own body heat doesn’t make the hive hotter. Still, I was alarmed on Monday when I saw a huge number of bees on the outside of a hive box.

I worried that the warmth was triggering a sense of overcrowding and the colony might be getting ready to swarm. Swarming is actually a pretty amazing phenomenon where the colony divides itself and half the residents go looking for new digs. But it makes non-beekeepers nervous and usually means a drop in honey production, so I’d really rather not have the hive go there.

When I opened up the colony and looked through the frames, I saw honey, pollen and brood. Fortunately, I didn’t see clear evidence it had swarming on its collective mind. I’ll keep a close eye on it. But for now, I think it’s just hot, but still at home.

Want to know more about bees, urban beekeepers or swarming? The Home + Garden section has a great story and video this week. Want even more? Here’s a roundup of honeybee books, too!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 at 11:13 pm and is filed under Bees. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.