Thom Bradley asks 'how do beekeepers deal with the heat and help their bees
when it's very hot and humid?' (not a verbatim quote).

I had several thoughts come to mind when I read this and the subsequent post
(about keeping bees in Florida in the heat) and the first thought I had was
that 'Andy Nachbauer posted on this subject' and then I started reminiscing
about how much knowledge and experience he had--it was obvious when you read
his posts--on so many beekeeping subjects.  As I recall, Andy said that he had
seen no improvement in honey production when hives were "ventilated" versus
just leaving them "normal" with the bottom front entrance.  If anything, there
was a decrease in honey storage/production in the area next to the ventilation
hole or crack.  Bees do just fine when we leave the hive in the normal closed
position with no extra holes drilled, etc. even when it's hot.

My mind then wandered to what one of the veteran beekeepers in my area told me
when I first started beekeeping (my area being central Texas, where it also
does get hot), and that was that "the bees really make honey fast when it gets
really hot."  It could have something to do with what plants and trees are
growing in your particular area and might vary from year to year depending on
rainfall, temperature and maybe many other factors, but that was the
observation.  Also, it seems that hot weather seems to "concentrate" the nectar
in some flowers so the bees can collect more concentrated sugars in a shorter
period of time.  The nectar flow of some flowers "shuts off" after a rain and
doesn't start up again until it gets back to hot and dry.

Situating hives so they get afternoon shade seems to help, but I do nothing
special to ventilate them extra.  I don't offset the supers or crack the lid
or drill holes.  As a matter of fact, I intentionally don't do anything special
for ventilation except make sure the bees have water and have the hives placed
for afternoon shade where possible, and I feel good about my results, backed up
by the likes of Andy and other old-timers.  I don't have enough hives to run a
"statistical test" on the results of using one system or another (including the
solar powered fan ventilation system that claims so much), but I feel confident
that my bees are fine and my honey production results are as good as they can
be considering equipment availability and natural circumstances (whatever
nature hands me).  These are just my opinions and your mileage may vary.

Layne Westover
College Station, Texas