>from my experience the temperature is that inside the hive.  It gets
>quite hot here in a few weeks time  (up to at least 43C) and that is
>when we see bees abscond.    

That is a good point.  In hot areas, bees need shelter from the sun and in the Imperial Valley, beekeepers sometimes provide shade canopies over the hives.  Not only do the shades protect the hives from the sun, but they also make working the hives bearable.

What we were discussing here, though was a different phenomenon, spring dwindling in hives which are warm and have little brood to keep the bees home, but little forage to be found when they fly.  This is typically due to a shortage of honey and/or pollen, resulting in reduced amounts of brood and pressure on the unemployed bees to forage.

How hot is too hot?  Warm hives are generally a good thing in spring when the bees are old and working hard to bring up the replacement bees, but if conditions are not right, bees may fly in futile searches for food unless they need to stay with the cluster to protect brood.

Both a cool hive and adequate stores can discourage excessive futile flying and subsequent dwindling.  Unwrapping after the risk of extreme weather, but before hot weather and ensuring generous food stores will reduce this phenomenon, as will judicious splitting at the right moment. 

Smaller hives have more brood per bee and more need for the bees inside the hive than larger colonies.  Bees live longer in the hive than flying around, especially in marginal weather.

Spring and fall dwindling are often related of excessive flight activity due to a light (and desperate) hive, unemployed bees, changing demographics, and sparse forage, along with inhospitable weather.

I realise I have not explained this well, but a large part of the art of beekeeping is being able to see what is affecting the bee behavior and adjusting those influences.  Sadly, this art can not be learned from books, or even reading BEE-L. but it can be learned by empathy and patient meditation over an open hive.

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