Hi Friends,
I moved to a new location in the spring of this year, and will be scaling up our beekeeping next year in the Farmington OH area. In this region of north east Ohio, we generally have abundant rainfall, 45+ inches per year, extensive winter cloud cover, and high humidity. During the 2021 summer, we reached the dew point for 8-10 hours every night through June, July, and August, with fog and heavy dew formation.
We are the second cloudiest spot in the continental US, second only to Seattle. (Which is why the Ravenna Arsenal is located here, 20 miles away.) My bee yards are located in low lying flat areas (close to the forage, and away from cropland) close to creek and river bottoms, which means we reach dew point even quicker then the surrounding area.
We have extensive and continuous nectar and pollen availability (weather permitting) from May-October, with nectar flow peaking from June-Mid August, and sometimes a September flow from goldenrod and asters.
This is my first year in this high humidity environment, and I am observing a lot of open nectar, and honey taking a long time to get capped. My assumption is that the high humidity is limiting the final stage of nectar drying.
Given the long and often intense nectar flow, and unmet local demand, I would like to get into comb honey production as I was doing years ago. To achieve this, it seems I may need to develop a management approach to get faster and uniform capping.
I have been trying the find research on airflow and nectar drying inside colonies, and have not been able to find much. I found one paper, titled "A review of impacts of temperature and relative humidity on various activities of honey bees" which touches on foraging behavior changes based on RH, but makes no mention of nectar drying capability changes.
Has any research been done on airflow requirements at different RH/nectar volume levels?
Has any research been done on energy expenditures by honeybees to move the required volume of air?
Has any research been done on hive entrance/vent sizes and locations to facilitate optimal airflow and reduce honeybee energy requirements?
What are the questions I should be asking? What am I missing?
If this research has not been done, and informed folks believe it would be valuable, I am willing to conduct this research on production colonies, and would welcome guidance and collaboration. The intent would be to publish what we learn to benefit others.
I anticipate I will need to set up an accurate weather station to monitor the local atmospheric conditions, and measure
- internal colony temperatures and humidity,
- air flow in and out of the colony,
- moisture load in the air in and out of the colony, (temperature and humidity)
- hive weight
- flight traffic
Is it possible/useful to measure number of bees carrying pollen vs nectar/water with an electric eye?
We may also want to evaluate the influence of protection from midday sun, possibly putting a piece of insulation on the southern exposure on colonies.
What else should be measured?
I am opening this discussion, readily acknowledging there is very much about this topic that I don't know, and I welcome your constructive critique and input.
With gratitude,
John Kempf
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