Breazle Bees
Live data from our Hives at Breazle
Artemis Hive
Ran by Queen Anne
A healthy colony has a brood temperature of 34°C to 36°C. A drop below 33°C indicates loss of bee density or broodless/queenless state. A sudden spike above 37°C indicates severe overheating, requiring immediate ventilation or shade. In winter, the cluster core drops to 20°C–30°C to conserve energy when no brood is present.
Brood nest relative humidity is maintained between 50% and 70% (spiking up to 80%+ directly within egg-laying cells). A drop below 50% causes eggs to dry out and fail to hatch. During an active nectar flow, bees intentionally drop humidity down to 40%–50% by fanning air to evaporate water from fresh nectar to turn it into honey.
Bees communicate via noise, if their frequency is below 200Hz then the hive is happy and healthy, at over 200-250Hz with larger amplitude spikes, this could indicate preparing to swarm and over 250Hz indicates the loss of the queen
Amplitude measures the volume and vibrational energy inside the hive. While frequency reveals the bees' emotional or operational state, amplitude measures their numbers, movement, and stress levels. Baseline amplitude fluctuates naturally with daily flight and activity, but sudden high-amplitude spikes indicate immediate colony defence or a distress reaction
The weight of the hive allows us to see a strong pollen and nectar flow and also if the bees are eating their stores. Rapid weight changes are likely due to us adding/removing boxes to the hive or in the spring it would show us the hive swarming
Counting the bees in and out of the hives, though the numbers may not be exact, it definitely gives us a good guide to their activity times and levels
Falcon Hive
Ran by Queen Elizabeth