# Continuous Application of Water to Hives On a Truck



## Markt (Feb 8, 2012)

Hey, I'm sure everyone's noticed a bigger buildup of dead bees on the trailer deck when a load is moving on a hot day compared to a rainy one, especially with strong colonies. What I'm wondering about doing is rigging up a 275 gallon tote with a 12 volt RV water pump with a pressure switch and sprinkler hose system that would continually water the bees while they traveled. It could be on a switch that the driver could turn on during the day. Anyone ever try anything like this?


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## beeware10 (Jul 25, 2010)

yes I have read about trucks use a water system. the biggest problem may be the extra 3/4 ton of weight and space for the tank. I'm sure the bees would travel better. If possible I like to travel on rain days.


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## Crabo (Jan 17, 2012)

We would stop and hose our hives down periodically when we moved some in July.


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## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

Just my 0.02 cents, consider using micro misters or mini spraying heads rated in 1/2 gallon /hour and up.
Regards,
Ernie


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## LSPender (Nov 16, 2004)

The more you do , the more things that will break!


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## Markt (Feb 8, 2012)

I think another big question might be how many Gallons per hour you'd need to spray on a truckload to make a difference and whether a tote would be close to enough... Thoughts?


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

How big of a truck are you taking? 275 gallons of water is going to weigh 2300 lbs, which could be a pretty significant amount of weight depending on the size of the truck.


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## zhiv9 (Aug 3, 2012)

I would think that the amount of water required would vary with humidity. Lower humidity would make the cooling more effective. It might be something that would work better out west in the south west of the US, but not as well with our humid summers?


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## LSPender (Nov 16, 2004)

Maybe talk to guys who ship more than 20 loads per year, get their perspective. This is quite honestly a waste of time from all kinds of angles.


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## rastajey (Jan 24, 2016)

any one tried bee in reefer ??


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## rastajey (Jan 24, 2016)

i've visit and operation that use different size reefer in his operation


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## high rate of speed (Jan 4, 2008)

The best truck drivers keep them in the wind.maintaining. water maybe once on a 1700 mile trip.


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