Australia Weather News

A Queensland beekeeper says special hives are helping to keep his bees cool as temperatures soar across the state.

Clermont's Mark Knobel of Knobel's Honey said for the past couple of years he has been transitioning his hives from wood to polystyrene.

He said the central Queensland town regularly experienced temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius which, for many other keepers, would mean honey production stoppages.

"For years and year and years, beekeepers have been using wooden beehives and they're great — they do the job, they're robust and sturdy — but out here where I keep my bees in central Queensland, they tend to get a little bit hot," Mr Knobel said.

"When the bees get hot, they don't work."

Mr Knobel started trialling polystyrene hives about two years ago and has since replaced about 80 per cent of his wooden hives.

The polystyrene hives have been used for decades in Scandinavia but their use is still relatively new in Australia.

Mr Knobel said in high temperatures, bees start fanning the hive to cool it down.

"The bees stop flying and they congregate at the front of the beehive; they turn their backsides outwards and they flap their wings, and what it does is it draws the hot air out of the hive, and lets cooler air circulate through," he said.

He said because the bees are kept cooler in the polystyrene hives, they continue to work, even on hot days.

"They've got better thermal insulation properties," Mr Knobel said.

"What I've found is that rather than spending their days fanning, [the bees] continue to fly because they can regulate their temperature a lot better."

He said the biggest fear for beekeepers during heatwaves was the complete loss of hives.

"If it gets too hot when you're getting those extreme hot days of 45 degrees [Celsius] plus, if there's not enough bees in the colony to circulate the air, they can actually just melt down," he said.

"Wax melts at approximately 60 degrees so essentially, the hive collapses on itself and oozes out the front door killing everything."

Mr Knobel said he believed he was the only commercial operator in north Queensland and with frequent hot weather, the plastic hives had significantly improved his operation in the summer months.

"They're a little bit more expensive than the wooden beehives but from the data, they get about 35 per cent more production when it's hotter," he said.

"[The bees] will be a lot happier and they'll keep working and they'll keep producing honey, which is a good thing."