It’s been hot in Ohio so far this summer (and a lot of other places too) but it’s also been wet.  Hot and wet can make keeping bees a lot harder than normal. Kim and Jim talk about hot summers and their bees.

Kick the air conditioner down a couple of degrees, pour yourself a glass of your favorite beverage and listen in.

Jim is visiting up in Michigan this week, and it’s been hot there, too. They share the same loss of enthusiasm and eagerness for working bees when it’s hot and it seems the bees are crankier than usual. Is that normal? There are lots of bees bearding on the front of the hives…

The ‘personality’ changes in the bee yards every summer, hot or not. Up to the middle of June of so, the bees don’t even notice a beekeeper, but then that changes and the bees give all manner of trouble each visit visits. What’s going on? Dearth, robbing, what ever it is it lasts until at least early October, when they quite down again.

Shade helps. Get them in afternoon shade if you can. It’s a lot easier on the bees, and even more so for the beekeeper.

What about water? You have to make sure there’s always water available in your yard. Keep your bees out of your neighbor’s pools and pet dishes, so they stay out of trouble.

Hot summers and honey bees. Turn that air conditioner down a couple more degrees, will you please?

Watch the Honey Bee Obscura VideoMoment for this episode here: https://youtu.be/IWr7Bj0EUQs

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We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. BetterBee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, BetterBee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

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Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, Walking in Paris by Studio Le Bus, original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

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