# Moon phase effect on hives



## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

When the moon is in the second house
and Jupiter aligns with Mars
then peace will guide the planet
and love will steer the stars, but beyond that it doesn't matter.


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## Brad Bee (Apr 15, 2013)

This is the age of Aquarius.....

Don't quit your day job.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

Brad Bee said:


> This is the age of Aquarius.....


Hmmm ... I though that was the _previous_ century!! :lpf:




OK, here you go .... 
http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?267115-Bees-and-Moon-Signs-Folklore-and-beekeeping


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## JConnolly (Feb 21, 2015)

Bees eyes see in the upper visible spectrum and in the UV bands. They don't see the longer wavelengths that we see, they don't see in the lower red spectrum like we do.

The ability to see UV lets them navigate even on ovsrecast days. Even in very heavy cloud cover they can see the sun. They probably see the stars very differently than we do. Moonlight is reflected light and has very little UV and blue spectrum light in it, so bees most likely do not see it very well.


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## Brad Bee (Apr 15, 2013)

This is purely anecdotal, but.....

Today I found swarm cells containing eggs and some with just hatched larvae in 2 hives. First swarm cells of the year. 

The moon will be "full" in 3 more days.

I think I broke up their intended swarming party, but the cells should be capped in 5 days. 

Not exactly on the full moon, but close.


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## JeronimoJC (Jul 21, 2016)

Baby delivery nurses swear more babies are born during full moon. 

Regarding bees, here is a link to a thread sharing some studies linking moon phases to some bee behaviors. It seems bees are heavier and loaded with carbohydrates during new moon and during full moon. 

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=20352

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/2226048/

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-879X1997000200018

Some believe there is increased swarming during full moon or right before it.


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## crofter (May 5, 2011)

I worry about the Ides of March; once past that loony event they are pretty well free of the evils of old man winter.


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

I have no day job! Just a senile old fart who does not fish by the solumnar tables.


Brad Bee said:


> This is the age of Aquarius.....
> 
> Don't quit your day job.


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## Brad Bee (Apr 15, 2013)

Vance G said:


> I have no day job! Just a senile old fart who does not fish by the solumnar tables.


That was supposed to be a joke, about your singing voice. I have never heard your singing voice, so maybe the voice in my head can't sing. 

So, I hived my first swarm of the year today. Would anyone care to guess when the full moon was? Last night. 

In case some of you didn't see my post, these bees are from the same tree/hive that I caught my first swarm of the year last year and ON THE SAME DATE. April 12th both years.

Would you care to guess when the full moon was in April of 2016? 4/23

So I think it's safe to say bees don't care what the moon phase is. LOL

They do obviously have a calander though.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

We all follow the moon cycle from the ocean creatures to the land and sky. Actually the moon like the sun is there to keep track of time like the sundial. It so happens that we need our zzzzzzzs at night time so nobody do much experiment on it. Has something to do with our body fluid, ocean tides and horny goat weeds. Don't ask me too much cannot tell you these secret. So yesterday, 4/11 was the actual full moon cycle. I'm sure the bees like any creature on earth will follow this cycle. For sure, the bees emerged in a 25 day cycle be it on the full moon or half moon cycle. Noticed that one of the queens will not lay even though the cap broods already emerged until after the full moon cycle.


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## JConnolly (Feb 21, 2015)

The moon is a solid body that once every day is directly overhead and once every day is directly underfoot. It doesn't change mass and it's gravity is not variable. The only variable is the direction that it reflects light, which has no effect on you except that you observe the direction of the reflected light to mark time. The amount of light reflected doesn't even change, just the direction it is reflected. There is nothing magical about it. Beware of confirmation bias.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

Note NASA says that the moon affects the Earth's tides ... 



> The Moon's gravity imparts tremendous energy to the Earth, raising tides throughout the global oceans. What happens to all this energy? This question has been pondered by scientists for over 200 years, and has consequences ranging from the history of the moon to the mixing of the oceans.
> 
> https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2000/ast15jun_2


No, its not _magic_. 

But _gravity_.

And gravity _sucks_! 


Are you really claiming that differences in gravity has *no effect* on Earthlings?  Really??



> Gravity is not just a force, it's also a signal -- [HIGHLIGHT]a signal that tells the body how to act.[/HIGHLIGHT] For one thing, it tells muscles and bones how strong they must be. In zero-G, muscles atrophy quickly, because the body perceives it does not need them. The muscles used to fight gravity --like those in the calves and spine, which maintain posture-- can lose around 20 per cent of their mass if you don't use them. Muscle mass can vanish at a rate as high as 5% a week.
> 
> https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast02aug_1


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## Hoot Owl Lane Bees (Feb 24, 2012)

(which has no effect on you except that you observe the direction of the reflected light to mark time)

You should go hang out at a Dr. office or Hospital around a Full moon. 
Ask the nurses if people are different around the full moon.


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## Wingnut (Dec 8, 2016)

I know when I was in law enforcement we were ALWAYS busier on a full moon. I also have my best deer hunting on full moons, but I dont plan around the cycle rather when I can get off work lol.


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## julieandwadeshelton (Oct 10, 2014)

I had a sickening migraine on the 11th.. and one of my hives were super nasty the next day.


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## JConnolly (Feb 21, 2015)

Rader Sidetrack said:


> Are you really claiming that differences in gravity has *no effect* on Earthlings?  Really??


Nope. I did not say that, nor did I say anything that resembled that. Go back and read what I said.

Everyday you experience an overhead moon and an underfoot moon. Every.Single.Day. Your body goes through a complete revolution of orientation to the moon, and it doesn't matter if the moon is full or new or waxing or waning. 

The visible phase of the moon, which is nothing more than the angle at which it is reflecting light with respect to you, will not change that.

That is what I said. The phase of the moon is a visual illusion. So lets dispense with the superstitions about it.


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## JConnolly (Feb 21, 2015)

> I also have my best deer hunting on full moons, but I dont plan around the cycle rather when I can get off work lol.


That is wisdom, not lunacy.


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## Steeler (Aug 31, 2016)

The moons orbit is elliptical not round and therefore, due to proximity to the earth, changes its gravitational effect on earth.


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## JConnolly (Feb 21, 2015)

Also the ellipse precesses, or wobbles. Because of this precession of the ellipse, the time it takes the moon to go from apogee to apogee is about 1/4 day longer than it takes to complete one sidereal orbit. The time for the moon to go through all the visual phases, or new moon to new moon is about 1-1/2 days longer than the orbit time (because the earth moved around the sun the moon has to travel a little farther to complete a visual phase) This means that any phase of the moon does not occur at the same place or distance from the earth from one month to the next. A new moon or full moon can occurs at apogee or perigee or at any point along the ellipse as it wobbles. Thus, as any surfer can tell you, high tides and low tides can occurs at any moon phase. (And we haven't even talked about solar effects yet)

Phases of the moon are optical illusions caused by our changing viewing angle, and gravitational effects do not sync with phases. A thin crescent moon that is overhead has the same gravitational effect that a full moon has that is overhead.


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## BadBeeKeeper (Jan 24, 2015)

JConnolly said:


> Phases of the moon are optical illusions caused by our changing viewing angle, and gravitational effects do not sync with phases.


Gotta love it. Nice to see some educated intelligence. I really liked the image in the previous post, so I stole it. :applause:


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## Steeler (Aug 31, 2016)

JConnolly said:


> Thus, as any surfer can tell you, high tides and low tides can occurs at any moon phase. (And we haven't even talked about solar effects yet)


Ask any fisherman and they will tell you tides are strongest during full and new moons.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

Here is a Cornell astronomer explaining ...
Why are there high tides during a Full Moon? 


And a page from NOAA ...


> During full or new moons—which occur when the Earth, sun, and moon are nearly in alignment—average tidal ranges are slightly larger. This occurs twice each month.
> 
> _More here:_
> http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/springtide.html


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## JConnolly (Feb 21, 2015)

Go back a couple of posts and you'll see that I mentioned solar effects exist. I didn't get into it because this thread was about moon phases, not tidies. Solar effects are caused by the sun, not the moon. The moon phase is an optical illusion. Even when there is a new moon, one full hemisphere of the moon is reflecting light, it's just not reflecting it towards us.

Highest tides are at new moon, which is the daytime. So think critically now, if gravity significantly affected us, why don't we have superstitions about lunacy during the new moon? Why don't we have legends about going berserk at noon that we attribute to the moon? Its because it's based in superstition, not science, and appeals to science to support superstition are doomed to failure because you cannot reconcile the two. The gravitational acceleration that the moon imparts on you is about 10[sup]-6[/sup]meter⋅sec[sup]-2[/sup], or about one thousandth of one percent. Contrast that with just climbing a high mountain, which changes the pull of Earth's gravity on you by about 0.1%, or 1,000 times as much.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

It should be pretty clear that full moons coincide with higher tides, so gravitational effects on _objects_ on Earth - *including creatures* - also change coincident with full moons. See the NASA, NOAA and Cornell reference links above.

What the _exact_ effects of those bi-monthly gravitational changes are on humans and other creatures is more difficult to quantify.



Some interesting reading on the history of the word _lunatic_ ... 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunatic#History


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## crofter (May 5, 2011)

I would have to re educate myself about the gravitational effects of the moons path. I have watched a mechanical simulator and that makes it much easier to get your head around, for me anyways.

I have read that there is historically some connection between the full moon and unusual or mischievous happenings being not due to gravitational variations at all, but dating back before handy flashlights and street lighting, the moon was the enabling light for all kinds of endeavors by lovers, thieves, poachers, moonshiners, etc. No wonder at the prevalence of broken bones! All manners of things that could not stand the glare of broad daylight was enabled by the moon!

That is my story and I am sticking to it!


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

JConnolly said:


> The gravitational acceleration that the moon imparts on you is about 10[sup]-6[/sup]meter⋅sec[sup]-2[/sup], or about one thousandth of one percent.


Here is a different way of looking at it ...









See this page (source of graphic) for more details:
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/tide.html

Note the 6.8% gravitational differential in that graphic.

And as the NOAA quote in my earlier post says, the _sun_, moon and Earth are [virtually] aligned at full moon events, so gravitational changes are not limited to just the moon's influence.


Whether or not these bi-monthly changes in gravity have a quantifiable effect on humans (or other creatures) has not yet been proven (from what I can find). However, there are undeniable gravitational changes occurring to Earth-bound objects, humans and animals coinciding with full moons.

.


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