# Bees in unusually cold weather in July



## Kazzandra (Jul 7, 2010)

So we've been having rainy, cold weather (58 degrees to 63 degrees) and the girls have been stuck in for a few days. I went down to check on them and I was able to do everything but a Russian jig around my Russians with no chance of them stinging... 

Here's why:










They're clustering around the brood!










I felt so lucky to get this picture right-- not just the focus and the aperture, but so lucky not to get stung! Any other day that'd been a swollen eye! 










But we had about 30 dead bees on the ground for the first time this season. I can't help but suspect the many yellow jackets weren't just scavenging but taking advantage of their inactivity.










I watched one of the house bees shove through the cluster and throw a bee on the stand outside the front porch. I've never seen that behaviour before. First time they've been so unhygienic.


Also, you can see that this particular hive has washboarded off the stain. The other hive, stained the same day with the same stain and procedure, and weathered the same amount, looks pristine. These guys acted like they HAD to have it gone, for some reason, and there are always a few bees washboarding. This is the result.


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## jim314 (Feb 12, 2011)

Nice pictures. I didn't know it was (58 degrees to 63 degrees) anywhere in the states now other than Alaska. Lucky you  My bees (and me) would like some of that right now, along with a lot of rain.


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## Kazzandra (Jul 7, 2010)

Well, it didn't last long! Back to 83 daytime and now 73 nighttime with 90 percent humidity. Or at least that's what I think the humidity. Right now it just says HI %. 









Rain all day, and these bees were washboarding the top entrance and bottom entrance.


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