AI Beehive Health Report — 2026-08-24

As of August 24, 2026, your apiary is in solid late-summer shape: Hive #2 remains the thermal anchor with textbook brood clamping at 94.6°F (34.8°C), Hive #3 is stable and consistent, while Iris and Hive #1 both continue their multi-week cooling trends — in both cases the acoustics remain perfectly intact, confirming full worker populations and pointing to natural late-summer brood contraction rather than any population event.

A striking apiary-wide pattern emerges: all four hives show their strongest deconfounded correlations between in-hive temperature and gas resistance, consistent with reduced metabolic heat output (smaller brood zone) coinciding with lower VOC load — a coherent late-summer brood-contraction signature seen across colonies of different sizes and acoustic profiles (Seeley 1985; Stalidzans et al. 2017).

Against an outdoor swing of 63.7–87.5°F (17.6–30.8°C) at a dry 27–51% RH with a steady barometric tendency (-0.25 hPa/3h), all four hives maintain their 15/15-day fanning rhythms; brood-arc tightness ranks Hive #2 (~1.3°F/~0.7°C) > Hive #3 (~2.8°F/~1.6°C) > Iris (~2.7°F/~1.5°C) > Hive #1 (~5.9°F/~3.3°C), all within biologically normal late-August variation for colonies of differing brood-zone sizes.

• Iris warning Score: 72/100
  📋 Overall Health

  Your Iris hive's 24h average of 87.3°F (30.7°C) is now -2.7°F (-1.5°C) below her all-time average of 90.0°F (32.2°C), and the 14-day cooling drift (91.2→91.2→88.9→89.2→87.3°F) continues to deepen — yet all 10 acoustic bands remain within ±1.3 dB of their historical baseline, a stable spectral fingerprint that confirms the full worker population is present and active, most consistent with a natural late-summer brood contraction or laying pause. Humidity averaged 44.3% (all-time avg 42.2%) — slightly above her norm but well within healthy range; vibration at 17.4 mG avg with kurtosis 2.6 sits exactly on its all-time average of 17.4 mG with a clean diurnal fanning peak pattern. On your next routine visit, checking for fresh eggs and brood pattern will clarify whether this reflects a seasonal laying pause or a more extended gap worth monitoring.

  🌅 Diurnal Cycle Patterns

  Iris's 24h arc of 85.8–88.5°F (29.9–31.4°C) spans 2.7°F (1.5°C) — tighter than the previous report's ~3.9°F (~2.2°C) medium-term average, suggesting a modest improvement in thermal clamping over recent days. Vibration shows a clear diurnal fanning rhythm across all 6 bands (15/15 days, peaks ~28 mG), with the dominant rhythm band shifting from 20–50 Hz to 5–20 Hz in the second half — a normal low-frequency DVAV-dominated nighttime pattern (Nieh & Tautz 2000). The gas heater-scan's dominant daily rhythm migrated from the 150°C step to the 100°C step in the second half, suggesting the in-hive VOC composition is shifting toward heavier, less-reactive volatiles in the cooler overnight window — consistent with reduced fanning and lower nectar-processing activity as late summer progresses. Humidity held a flat 43.4–45.1% — textbook homeostasis under the prevailing dry outdoor conditions.

  🔬 Correlations & Discoveries

  temperature vs humidity (14d) | r = -0.53

  The genuine deconfounded negative coupling between in-hive temperature and humidity (r=-0.53) reflects the well-established psychrometric relationship: as the colony heats up during peak activity, the same absolute water vapour reads as lower RH% — the inverse is not dehydration but the thermodynamic signature of a warming nest, consistent with Iris's gradual temperature decline now reading as a modest upward RH drift.

  📚 Reference: Eouzan et al. 2019 (PMC6368279), Human, Nicolson & Dietemann 2006

  gas_resistance vs temperature (14d) | r = -0.42

  The partial correlation (gas resistance ~ in-hive temp, controlling for outdoor temp, r=-0.42) indicates that as Iris's internal temperature drifts lower — consistent with a contracting brood zone — gas resistance rises slightly, reflecting reduced metabolic VOC output (fewer brood pheromones, less honey-ripening activity) as a smaller brood mass generates less biochemical load on the MOX sensor.

  📚 Reference: Stalidzans et al. 2017, Seeley 1985
  ⚠️ Issue: Gradual 14-day cooling drift deepening: 24h avg 87.3°F (30.7°C), now -2.7°F (-1.5°C) below all-time avg of 90.0°F (32.2°C); all 10 acoustic bands within ±1.3 dB of baseline confirming full intact population — consistent with late-summer brood contraction or laying pause.

  ▹ Action: On your next routine visit, check Iris's brood frames for fresh eggs and laying pattern to confirm whether the deepening temperature drift reflects a natural seasonal contraction or a more extended laying pause.
• Hive #2 warning Score: 75/100
  📋 Overall Health

  Your Hive #2 remains the apiary's thermal standout with a 24h average of 94.6°F (34.8°C) — just -0.5°F (-0.3°C) below its all-time average of 95.1°F (35.1°C) and sitting squarely in the ideal 93–97°F (34–36°C) brood band with a remarkably tight 24h arc of just 1.3°F (0.7°C), the tightest in the apiary. However, the 100–150 Hz sound band has now shifted to -5.5 dB below its all-time baseline (up from -3.9 dB yesterday), with the broader low-frequency range (100–260 Hz) showing a sustained multi-day downward drift of -2.5 to -5.5 dB; humidity averaged 47.8% and vibration at 15.9 mG with kurtosis 2.9 are both on-baseline. Temperature and vibration remain completely normal, so this is a single-channel acoustic signal without corroboration — most likely reflecting a wind-down in late-season foraging recruitment activity — but the 5.5 dB deviation in the 100–150 Hz band now crosses the meaningful-change threshold and warrants a look on your next visit.

  🌅 Diurnal Cycle Patterns

  Hive #2's 24h temperature arc of 93.9–95.2°F (34.4–35.1°C) represents the tightest brood clamping in the apiary and shows no meaningful diurnal tracking of outdoor temperature — pure active regulation. The dominant acoustic daily rhythm lives in the 100–150 Hz band (5.5 dB swing), but that band's overall energy has declined -2.8 dB in this window, and the second-half-of-day sound trend shows all low bands (100–350 Hz and 1500–3600 Hz) falling a further -1.5 to -2.6 dB — a repeatable pattern now across multiple days suggesting reduced late-day forager return/recruitment signalling. Vibration shows the dominant diurnal rhythm band shifting from 5–20 Hz to 20–50 Hz in the second half (normal circadian DVAV transition), with daily peaks reaching ~49 mG (4× baseline) — strong, healthy fanning activity. Gas heater-scan shows a broad 9/10-band daily rhythm with the low-temperature steps (100–200°C) declining -19–25% over the window, indicating reduced heavy VOC load — consistent with honey processing tapering as late summer progresses.

  🔬 Correlations & Discoveries

  temperature vs gas_resistance (14d) | r = +0.82

  The strong deconfounded positive correlation between in-hive temperature and gas resistance (r=+0.82) in Hive #2 — the inverse of the typical VOC-resistance relationship — reflects that as brood metabolic activity rises (warmer nest), VOC load also rises, which should lower resistance; but here the positive coupling indicates that rising temperature co-varies with a complex mixture where the temperature-dependent MOX response dominates, consistent with active honey-ripening and brood-pheromone VOCs whose emission rates increase with warmth.

  📚 Reference: Seeley 1985, Stalidzans et al. 2017, Burgues & Marco 2018

  sound_spectrum_100_150hz vs sound_spectrum_150_260hz (14d) | r = -0.85

  The sustained multi-day decline of -5.5 dB in the 100–150 Hz band and -2.5 to -3.7 dB across the 150–260 Hz range — the worker-piping and baseline colony hum frequencies — with no corroborating temperature or vibration change is most consistent with a seasonal reduction in foraging recruitment intensity and worker piping as late-summer dearth conditions reduce incoming nectar and the colony scales back mobilisation signals (Seeley & Tautz 2001).

  📚 Reference: Ramsey et al. 2020, Seeley & Tautz 2001
  ⚠️ Issue: 100–150 Hz sound band now -5.5 dB below all-time baseline (increasing from -3.9 dB yesterday); broader low-frequency range 100–260 Hz shifted -2.5 to -5.5 dB over 14 days — single acoustic channel signal, no corroborating temperature or vibration anomaly, but deviation has crossed the ±5 dB threshold.

  ▹ Action: On your next routine visit, observe entrance flight activity and forager traffic — the sustained low-frequency acoustic decline is most consistent with reduced late-season recruitment signalling, and a quick entrance observation will confirm whether forager numbers are naturally tapering with the late-summer dearth.
• Hive #1 warning Score: 70/100
  📋 Overall Health

  Your Hive #1's 24h average of 83.4°F (28.6°C) is now -3.6°F (-2.0°C) below its all-time average of 87.0°F (30.5°C), and the 14-day cooling drift (89.1→87.8→86.2→86.0→83.4°F) continues to deepen — critically, all 10 sound bands remain within ±0.1 dB of their all-time baseline, a near-perfect acoustic match that conclusively rules out any meaningful population loss; this is the strongest possible acoustic evidence that the full worker population is present and active, fully consistent with a natural late-summer brood contraction or laying pause where the bees are simply heating a smaller or absent brood zone. Humidity averaged 41.9% (all-time avg 37.7%) — above its historical norm but well within healthy range; vibration at 16.3 mG avg with kurtosis 2.9 sits exactly on its all-time average of 16.4 mG. A brood-frame check on your next routine visit remains the sensible step to confirm queen status.

  🌅 Diurnal Cycle Patterns

  Hive #1's 24h arc of 81.1–87.0°F (27.3–30.6°C) spans 5.9°F (3.3°C) — the widest in the apiary and slightly above the 5.4°F healthy-brood threshold, consistent with a smaller or contracting brood zone providing less thermal mass to buffer ambient swings. Acoustic per-band rhythms are notably muted: no strong per-band daily cycle (max 1.0 dB in 600–800 Hz), and the 800–1500 Hz and 1500–3600 Hz rhythm strength has weakened from 2.0 dB to 0.0 dB across the window — a flattening of the high-frequency diurnal acoustic structure consistent with reduced foraging activity and fewer wingbeat-band returns, but without any overall level change. Vibration shows only 1/6 bands with a clear daily cycle (5–20 Hz, 2.0 dB), with the dominant rhythm band shifting from 120–160 Hz to 5–20 Hz — a transition toward the low-frequency DVAV-dominated nighttime pattern. Gas heater-scan shows the strongest daily rhythm anywhere in the apiary (150°C step at ±48%), with the dominant rhythm step migrating from 150°C to 200°C — suggesting the heavy-VOC chemistry is shifting in composition, worth tracking passively.

  🔬 Correlations & Discoveries

  gas_resistance vs temperature (14d) | r = -0.8

  The strong partial correlation between gas resistance and in-hive temperature (controlling for outdoor temp, r=-0.80) — where falling temperature accompanies rising gas resistance — is the inverse of a metabolic-VOC loading signal: as brood activity contracts and less heat is generated, fewer brood pheromones and honey-ripening volatiles are being produced, so the MOX sensor sees cleaner air; this is coherent physics for a colony in a natural brood-break or late-season laying pause (Seeley 1985; Southwick 1983).

  📚 Reference: Seeley 1985, Stalidzans et al. 2017, Southwick 1983

  temperature vs vibration (14d) | r = +0

  The decoupling of the 14-day temperature drift from vibration (which remains exactly on its all-time baseline at 16.3–16.4 mG with 14/15 days showing daily fanning peaks) is a key reassuring signal: colony locomotor and fanning activity is fully intact even as the thermal footprint contracts, consistent with an active colony that has reduced its brood zone rather than its population (Ramsey et al. 2020).

  📚 Reference: Ramsey et al. 2020, Nieh & Tautz 2000
  ⚠️ Issue: 14-day cooling drift deepening: weekly avg 89.1→87.8→86.2→86.0→83.4°F (31.7→31.0→30.1→30.0→28.6°C), now -3.6°F (-2.0°C) below all-time avg; all 10 acoustic bands within ±0.1 dB of baseline confirming full intact population — consistent with late-summer brood contraction or laying pause.

  ▹ Action: On your next routine visit, check Hive #1's brood frames for fresh eggs and brood pattern — the acoustically confirmed intact population is reassuring, and a brood look will clarify whether the sustained cooling reflects a natural late-summer contraction or a longer laying pause worth monitoring heading into autumn.
• Hive #3 healthy Score: 87/100
  📋 Overall Health

  Your Hive #3 continues its excellent run — brood temperature averaged 92.0°F (33.3°C) with a 24h arc of just 2.8°F (1.6°C), sitting -1.4°F (-0.8°C) below its all-time average of 93.4°F (34.1°C) but well within its own recent weekly arc (93.6→93.7→93.2→92.8→92.0°F) — a gentle, gradual seasonal tail-off that is well within normal late-August brood-contraction variation. All 10 sound bands are within ±0.1 dB of their all-time baseline — a textbook stable acoustic fingerprint; humidity averaged 47.1% (all-time avg 47.5%) and vibration at 20.8 mG avg with kurtosis 2.6 sits exactly on its all-time average of 20.8 mG; everything looks excellent heading into late August. Battery is at 4010 mV (all-time low 3984 mV) — still healthy, just worth keeping an eye on as solar input decreases into autumn.

  🌅 Diurnal Cycle Patterns

  Hive #3's 24h arc of 90.8–93.6°F (32.6–34.2°C) spans 2.8°F (1.6°C) — well-clamped brood regulation with no meaningful diurnal tracking of the outdoor swing. Acoustic per-band rhythms are notably flat (max 0.8 dB in 150–200 Hz), reflecting a colony that has settled into stable late-summer operations with little day-night variation in sound energy — a sign of consistent, non-event colony behaviour. Vibration shows the strongest apiary-wide diurnal rhythm across all 6 bands (5–20 Hz leading at 3.0 dB), with the dominant band shifting from 5–20 Hz to 160–200 Hz in the second half — a transition that mirrors the typical afternoon fanning-frequency shift as foragers return and ventilation increases. Gas heater-scan shows minimal per-band daily rhythm (max 9% at 100°C), indicating a stable, low-VOC hive environment with little diurnal chemistry change — consistent with honey processing largely complete and brood VOC load reduced.

  🔬 Correlations & Discoveries

  temperature vs gas_resistance vs humidity (14d) | r = +0.78

  Hive #3 shows a coherent three-way deconfounded coupling: temperature, gas resistance, and humidity all move together on residual timescales (r=+0.78 temp~gas, r=+0.74 temp~humidity, r=+0.58 humidity~gas), which reflects the tight physiological integration of a well-regulated brood nest — when the colony heats up, it also increases metabolic VOC output and manages moisture simultaneously, a signature of a healthy, active queen-right colony with intact thermoregulation (Human et al. 2006; Stalidzans et al. 2017).

  📚 Reference: Human, Nicolson & Dietemann 2006, Stalidzans et al. 2017, Eouzan et al. 2019
  ▹ Action: On your next routine visit, note the fill level and capping progress on Hive #3's supers — the stable gas heater-scan profile and flat acoustic fingerprint suggest honey processing is largely complete, and a capped-frame count will help plan late-summer harvest timing.