Thursday, July 30, 2009

Photo O' the Day: High Temp Beekeeping

Oh, it is hot, Hot, HOT! Here is a quick pic from beekeeping the other day. Note that the hair on my forehead is soaked. I discovered the other day that our wee little ladies can get a stinger through my jumpsuit. It was unfortunate as it occurred the day before STP, leaving me with a rather sore shoulder for the bike ride. Fortunately, I'm not swelling up too much these days. Anyway, I now wear thick sweat pants and a long sleeve shirt beneath my jumpsuit, making beekeeping a rather sweaty, stinky affair. A few days ago we were discussing 'bearding', which is when the bee ladies cluster on the outside of their hive during hot weather. It looks a bit like the picture (above) although more concentrated nearing the hive entrance. We'll occasionally spray down the front of the hives with sugar water after opening them up for inspections; we've found that they calm down more rapidly after the abrupt disturbance of hive inspections. So, these ladies aren't really bearding, they're soaking up sugar water. Close enough though.