> You ask about absconding.  This is probably my biggest cause of colony loss.  The causes are not always clear.  It may be that in the hot season some of the colonies get just too hot (the sun can move around during the year and what was a hive in the shade becomes a hive in the sun for part of the day).  The hot season is hot such that if you take out a frame and tough the wax it will instantly change shape.  The other cause that I have not figured out (if it is the cause or I see the effect) is ants.

You will recall that when you first mentioned absconding, I asked if you have ants. 

Ants, as you know, can be a big problem,  Often at a spot -- a microclimate -- where bees do well, ants will also be found.  That is not surprising, since they are related.  In fact, finding a spot with lots of ant hills can be a way of identifying a location which will favour bees -- but then, depending on the type of ant, there may be conflicts.

As beekeepers, many of us enjoy ants too.  Killing ants indescriminately is a common solution and often beekeepers spread lawn insecticides under pallets to eliminate ants, but this method kills friends and foes alike and is now frowned upon. 

Methods such as stands with feet in oil as mentioned are preferrable, but not always effective if vegetation or ants themselves bridge the moat.  Ants can be very resourceful.  At any rate, ants can drive EHB from hives and are the first suspect IMO.

I did not ask what strains of bees you have.  Absconding -- the phenomenon of the entire colony of bees leaving their home and usually leaving behind brood -- is not a conspicuous trait in the European honey bee.  Wen reported, it is usually associated with starvation or serious and continuing molestation.  Scutellata and dorsata, on the other hand ascond quite routinely and sometimes migrate seasonally.

Heat has been mentioned and that could be a factor which would drive the bees to 'conclude' that their home is inhabitable.  Various shades have been contrived, from something as simple as a sheet of plywood larger than the hive sitting on bricks on the lid, with more bricks on top, to canopies llike the ones used to shelter entire rows of hives used in the El Centro area in California.  Wind has to bne considered in such plans and the shades must be well anchored.

As mentioned, a good reliable supply of decent water is essential for bees when they are experiencing ambient temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius.  Otherwise, they cannot cool he hive. 

If the heat continues overnight, when they cannot fly for water, they face a quandary and may seek a location which is cooler due to ground conditions or other factors.  Supplying water in or near the hive could be a solution, but this is outside my personal experience.

Insulation could be a solution as well.  We use expanded polystyrene (EPS) hives here in the cold regions to moderate hive temperatures and that can work in warm areas, too, as can a sheet of EPS placed on the lid and held down with a stone or brick.

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