ERRONEOUS CONCEPTION ABOUT COOLING THE NEST BY THE BEES DUE TO HANGING WATER DROPS ON HONEYCOMBS IN THE NEST.

Based on our scientific researches and materials of the works of famous scientists, we believe that the classical theory of cooling the nest by the bees by hanging water droplets on honeycombs is completely untenable!

Insects, being cold-blooded, become active at higher temperatures and therefore "like" hot weather. The fact that the bees ventilate the hive during the day can only mean that in conditions of heat and the corresponding reduced concentration of oxygen in the air, the bees simply need more efficient ventilation! What about water droplets?

It is known that for high-quality hatching of queens in an incubator, a temperature of 35 degrees Celsius is maintained at a relative humidity of 70%. Everyone knows this... But why should one think that some other conditions are needed for the brood of worker bees?

And what does the parameter "humidity" mean? Absolute humidity is the amount of moisture contained in one cubic meter of air. Absolute humidity is used when it is necessary to compare the amount of water in the air at different temperatures or over a wide range of temperatures. Usually measured in g/m³. But due to the fact that at a certain air temperature it can contain only a certain amount of moisture as much as possible (with an increase in temperature, this maximum possible amount of moisture increases, with a decrease in air temperature, the maximum possible amount of moisture decreases), the concept of relative humidity was introduced. Relative humidity is the ratio of the mass fraction of water vapor in the air to the maximum possible at a given temperature.

For us, this means that as the temperature in the bee nest rises, the relative humidity of the air in the nest drops !!!! Thus, when the temperature rises, it becomes necessary, no, not to cool the nest ... The bees need heat, but to humidify the airin the nest!

Water, evaporating, only increases the humidity, which is necessary so that the open brood, with its delicate skin, does not dry out and turn into "dried fruits". That's what the water in the hive is for! That's why the bees begin to carry it in early spring ( when relative humidity can be only 20%) as soon as the first mass brood appears, and not to cool the nest when it's already cold enough in spring!

It seems that this is also the reason why the bees accumulate freshly brought nectar around the brood in summer, and only after a certain amount of water has evaporated, they transfer it to honey supers! Moisture from nectar evaporating creates the necessary humidity around the brood during hot and dry summer days!

Thus, it can be assumed that in springtime, bees carry water not only, and not so much, in order to moisten sugar or soak crystallized honey, but in order to create conditions for growing brood in the absence of a nectar flow, which, drying up, could humidify the air in the nest! Therefore, when we see bees near a puddle, or on a drinking bowl, we can say for sure that an enhanced spring brood hatching has begun!

In summer, bees carrying water into the hive in hot weather become an indicator of the absence of a significant honey flow in nature. The secretion of nectar is weak and its influx into the hive cannot provide natural moisture maintenance in the nest. Additional humidification of the air is required due to the water brought into the hive.

This is what the phenomenon of hanging water droplets on honeycombs by the bees looks like in reality!