Update November 2010: Bees are not active when the temperature falls below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. You will not see much, or any, bee activity right now. Please check back in the spring!
A few days ago, I attempted to place a live web cam of my honey bee hive on the internet for readers of this gardening blog to view. Due to some technical issues, the camera was not broadcasting on the internet, and it took a few days to find the solution to that problem.
The Bee Cam is now live and can be viewed by clicking on the below link and entering the user ID and password below (case sensitive).
Web Cam Link: PlanterTomato BeeCam
User ID: Guest
Password: Beecam
Best Times To View Beecam
The bees start their day when the air warms to over 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Right now, that means at about 9:00 am U.S. Pacific Time (4:00 pm Greenwich Mean Time). However, the bees are most active, and therefore best viewed, between the hours of 11:00 am and 5:00 pm Pacific U.S. Time (6:00pm to 12:00 Midnight Greenwich Mean Time)
It goes without saying, the hours between 8:00 pm and 9:00 am Pacific U.S time are not good times to view Beecam because there is not sufficient light and/or the bees are not active. My plan is to run Beecam throughout the summer months, barring any technical or other issues.
The week on May 24th, 2010 promises to be rainy and cold which will dampen bee activity, so I've also posted a video to YouTube which you can watch anytime, day or night. The link is below.
PlanterTomato YouTube Video (May 24, 2010)
Special thanks to the folks at Parsons Farmstead who were kind enough to assist me in testing the camera.
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