SHADE AND WATER FOR 

 THE HONEY BEE COLONY 



By Charles D. Owens, agricultural engineer, Agricultural Engineering Research Division, and 

 S. E. McGregor, entomologist, Entomology Research Division, Agricultural Research Service 



Honey bees, like other animals, 

 require water for their normal body 

 functions. They also use water to 

 reduce the cluster temperature. If 

 the outside temperature is high, they 

 may stop collecting food and collect 

 water to cool the cluster. 



In areas of high temperature the 

 beekeeper can get more honey from 

 a colony if he protects it from heat 

 and sees that a water supply is nearby. 



ARTIFICIAL SHADES 



The best way to protect a colony 

 from heat is to place the hives on 

 green grass in the shade of one or 

 more good shade trees. In high- 

 temperature areas having few shade 

 trees, artificial shades are needed. 



Tests made in Arizona show that 

 a colony under solid shade produces 

 50 percent more honey than a colony 

 exposed to the sun. Under partial 

 shade the honey production is in 

 proportion to the amount of shade. 



The tests also show that unshaded 

 colonies are more likely to be lost 



as a result of insecticide poisoning 

 than are shaded colonies. The 

 reason probably is that after a part 

 of the working force has been killed 

 by insecticide, the remaining bees 

 in the unshaded colonies cannot 

 maintain broodnest temperatures. 



Permanent Shades 



In the lower valleys of southern 

 Arizona and southern California, 

 where temperatures above 100° are 

 common, many beekeepers have built 

 permanendy located artificial shades 



(fig. 1). 



These shades are usually about 7 

 feet high and 10 feet wide. Length 

 depends on the number of colonies 

 to be covered. A shade 50 feet long 

 is sufficient for 50 colonies, which 

 should be arranged back to back in 

 two rows, with a 3- or 4-foot walkway 

 between rows. The shades run east 

 and west. 



Many materials have been tested 

 to learn their effectiveness as 

 shades — the extent to which air 



