Hi macdoum, I do not see my second father very often, but at the last weekend we have a big family party and so I ask him a few things about bees. The bees need a special temperature to go out and is correct between 55 degree Fahrenheit and 60 degree Fahrenheit, or 12,8 degree Celsius and 15,6 degree Celsius. It is also applicable, that bees from bigger colonies are able to go out at the base temperature and small colonies need the most highest temperature to go out. The reason is, that a big colony have not so very much problems to warm up their larvae, the bees larvae are in the middle of the hive and so big colonies can send bees out at the base temperature. Small colonies must wait for warmer times, because they can not leave the hive, if to much of them leave the hive, the bees larvae get cold and die.macdoum wrote:Effect of Weather
(From Fundamentals of Beekeeping)
Weather is the key to maximum use of the pollinating force. Bees rarely fly when the temperature is below 55° F or the wind is more than 15 to 20 miles per hour. The stronger the colony, the lower the temperature at which the bees may initiate flight. Strong colonies do little pollinating below 55° F and weak ones do little below 60° F. Cool cloudy weather and threatening storms greatly reduce bee flights. The poor weather, bees foraging at more distant locations will remain in the hive and only those that have been foraging nearby will be active. Therefore, over an extended period of inclement weather, colonies may require greater distribution to get adequate coverage.
Bad weather also presents hazards to the plant. Spring frosts can kill fruit bloom, and temperatures of 40° to 50° F retard pollen germination and tube growth. Fertilization failure may result. If the weather is hot and dry or windy, stigmas may dry out so that deposited pollen does not germinate. Pollen release may be hindered by prolonged rains.
Effective pollination can take place with surprising rapidity in warm clear weather.
Some info on bees and weather. I still haven't found out where they go at night Surely they do not stay on that exposed 'screen' in bad weather or nightime ?
Maybe Greeneyes parent can tell us this basic fact ? ?
Bees never fly at night, at night they are in the hive.