Helping bees through a hot summer
How to help bees in summer: water, flowers to fill the gap after fruit blossom, spraying with bees in mind, and hive care in the heat for beekeepers.
Bees set the fruit you pick, and summer is hard on them. Fruit blossom is long finished, many plants stop flowering in the heat, and water dries up. A few simple steps help both wild bees and honey bees through to autumn.
Give them water
Bees need water to drink and to cool their hives. On a hot day a strong colony can use litres of it.
- Put out a shallow dish, birdbath or trough with stones, sticks or floating corks for bees to land on, so they don't drown.
- Keep it topped up and in the same place; bees learn where water is.
- A dripping tap or dripper over a patch of gravel also works.
Fill the summer flower gap
After fruit trees finish flowering in spring, there can be weeks with little for bees to forage. Plant things that flower through summer and into autumn:
- Herbs left to flower: basil, oregano, thyme, coriander, borage and lavender.
- Salvias, sunflowers, cosmos and zinnias.
- Natives such as grevilleas, bottlebrushes, tea trees and summer-flowering eucalypts.
- Cover crops and clover between the rows, mown in sections rather than all at once.
Spray with bees in mind
- Never spray insecticides on open flowers, including weeds and clover under the trees. Mow flowering ground cover first.
- Spray in the evening, after bees have stopped flying.
- Choose the softest product that will do the job, and read the label for bee warnings.
- Tell nearby beekeepers before you spray.
If you keep hives
- Give hives afternoon shade in hot districts, and make sure they are well ventilated.
- Avoid opening hives in the heat of the day or during a heatwave; inspect early in the morning.
- Make sure there is plenty of room and some stores. A summer dearth can leave colonies short of food.
- Watch for small hive beetle in warm, humid weather, and keep colonies strong so they can defend themselves.
- Keep up regular mite checks, and follow your state's current guidance on varroa.
Why it matters for your fruit
Strong, healthy bee populations through summer mean more bees ready to work the blossom next spring, and better fruit set on trees that need cross-pollination.
Trees n Bees keeps hive inspections, mite checks and a printable logbook beside the orchard the bees work, and a hot day alert warns you to check water and shade before the heat arrives.