Hi skeggley i have heard that story as well there has been bearding and a lot of bees outside the hive on warm days and this is why i tried to lower the heat inside the hive . I did see a guy do something similar in the riverland here the problem being is because it is in a fairly enclosed area the wind flow on still hot days would be zero as it is surrounded by fences which when hot cause radiant heat and in the afternoon with the western sun they get hot , i am hoping that it is doing some good i even thought about buying some sun deflectors for car windows and lacing them together to reflect the heat on hot days , we havent even hit summer yet and already we have had a number of days up to and 40 degrees .
Im lucky as i live not to far from the coast rather than out the northern areas which seem to get 2 -4 degrees higher temps ,anyway i can only try to look after these little creatures the best i can ,plenty of water on hand for them gets changed every day so nice and clean quite often watch them on the edge of the bird bath getting a drink , this is still a work in progress .