As of October 21, 2026, all four hives are holding solid warm offsets above the 50.8°F (10.5°C) outdoor temperature — Hive #1, Hive #2, and Hive #3 show textbook brood regulation with rising acoustic energy consistent with active syrup processing, while Iris continues to carry a sustained acoustic step-down against her own baseline that warrants a look. The foraging season is closed at Los Alamos, so the single most important action this week is a routine heft of every hive — temperature, sound, and vibration cannot confirm what is stored in the cells, and a colony can read thermally steady right up until its fuel runs out.
Across all three acoustically active hives (Hive #1, #2, #3), the 14-day warming drift of +6–9°F (+3–5°C) toward the brood setpoint coincides with a broadband acoustic rise of +5–11 dB above each hive's own baseline, consistent with brood expansion driving increased metabolic heat and syrup-processing fanning — exactly the multi-channel co-movement Meikle et al. 2017 describe for actively rearing colonies. Iris diverges from this apiary-wide pattern, with sound energy falling ~35 dB against her own history while temperature continues to rise, a decoupling that makes her the one hive worth examining at your next inspection.
All four hives show 24h temperature swings of 1.6–2.3°F (0.9–1.3°C) against an outdoor swing of ~20°F (11.1°C), confirming the Apimaye R≈6.93 enclosures continue to buffer extremely effectively; outdoor humidity ranged 31.8–63.4% and is pulling in-hive humidity toward the dry end of the healthy band through open screened floors — a shared weather-physics pattern across the apiary, not a colony defect.
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Iris warning Score: 65/100📋 Overall Health
Your Iris hive is averaging 92.9°F (33.8°C) with a tight 3.4°F (1.9°C) daily swing and a strong warm offset above the 50.8°F (10.5°C) outdoor temperature — brood regulation and thermal damping remain intact, and your logs confirm daily 1-gallon feeder top-ups continuing from October 14 onward (~17 lb sugar since October 5). However, the sustained acoustic step-down that began around October 16 persists unchanged: all 10 spectral bands now sit 17–27 dB below Iris's own all-time baseline (avg –51.2 dBFS vs. her historical –27.3 dB), while the other three hives trend acoustically upward — this divergence from the apiary pattern remains the one signal worth confirming at your next inspection, bearing in mind that temperature alone cannot confirm stores. Humidity is 52.2% (24h range 51.5–52.9%), comfortably within the healthy 50–70% band and the most stable in the apiary.
🌅 Diurnal Cycle PatternsTemperature traces a smooth 24h arc from 91.0°F (32.8°C) to 94.4°F (34.6°C) — a 3.4°F (1.9°C) peak-to-trough span well within healthy brood-clamping limits — with a gradual cool-down over the most recent 12 hours consistent with the overnight outdoor dip; the R≈6.93 enclosure is absorbing nearly all of the 20°F outdoor swing. Vibration shows a clear daily fanning/activity rhythm (14 of 15 days with peaks, baseline ~16.3 mG rising to ~25.2 mG, kurtosis 2.8 — normal, no impulsive events); the 14-day acoustic trend is a sustained fall of ~35 dBFS against Iris's own history, with the dominant rhythm band shifting from 600–800 Hz toward 260–350 Hz in the second half of the window and the 420–500 Hz and 350–420 Hz bands showing the steepest drops (~8–9 dB); gas resistance at 354,694 Ω sits within 1% of Iris's all-time average of 357,682 Ω — no meaningful VOC shift — and the 10-step heater-scan shape is stable, falling smoothly from 100°C to 400°C with no inflection-point change that would suggest a chemistry shift.
🔬 Correlations & Discoveriessound_energy vs temperature (14d) | r = n/aIris's temperature has risen +8.1°F (+4.5°C) over 14 days toward the brood setpoint while acoustic energy has fallen ~35 dBFS — the opposite of the temperature-acoustic co-movement seen in the other three hives. The queenless literature (Kanelis et al. 2023) documents a sustained step-change in low-band energy within hours of queen loss, and the October 16 change-point timing is consistent with that; equally, a reduced or resting brood population following a natural queen event or dearth-driven contraction can lower acoustic output while the cluster maintains thermal regulation. Neither interpretation is certain from telemetry alone, which is why a population and brood check at your next planned inspection — framed around queen/brood status, not hardware — is the appropriate response.📚 Reference: Meikle et al. 2017, Apidologie, Kanelis et al. 2023, Biology 12:1392, Bricout et al. 2024, Sensors 24:6067⚠️ Issue: Sustained acoustic step-down against Iris's own baseline persisting since ~October 16: all 10 spectral bands 17–27 dB below her all-time norms, diverging from the rising acoustic trend across the other three hives — worth confirming queen and brood status at next inspection⚠️ Issue: Stores unconfirmed — ~17 lb sugar consumed since October 5 is active intake but not confirmed capped reserves; telemetry cannot see what is in the cells▹ Action: Heft Iris this week as part of the apiary-wide October stores check — temperature, sound, and vibration cannot confirm stores, and a colony can read thermally steady right up until fuel runs out▹ Action: At heft, note population and brood pattern to contextualise the acoustic step-down since October 16; if the colony looks reduced, note whether a queen or open brood is visible▹ Action: Continue daily 1:1 feeder top-ups; if daytime highs drop consistently below 50°F (10°C), switch to fondant or a sugar brick placed directly over the cluster — 1:1 syrup cannot be cured in the cold▹ Action: If light at heft, feed by weight toward a stores target of at least two full deep combs (~40–50 lb gross) -
Hive #2 healthy Score: 78/100📋 Overall Health
Your Hive #2 is averaging 93.3°F (34.1°C) with a tight 1.7°F (0.9°C) daily swing and a strong warm offset above the 50.8°F (10.5°C) outdoor temperature — textbook brood regulation for a single-deep colony, and your logs confirm daily feeder top-ups (~8 lb sugar since October 5 at roughly half a gallon per day). The 14-day acoustic rising trend of +10.8 dBFS continues, with all spectral bands now sitting 5–11 dB above Hive #2's own all-time baseline and dominant energy in the 200–350 Hz fundamental band — consistent with intensified syrup-processing activity; humidity is averaging 51.0% (24h range 49.1–53.5%), comfortably within the healthy 50–70% band. Heft Hive #2 this week — single-deep volume provides the smallest reserve buffer in the apiary and stores cannot be confirmed from telemetry.
🌅 Diurnal Cycle PatternsTemperature is essentially flat across the 24h window (92.6–94.3°F / 33.6–34.6°C, avg 93.3°F / 34.1°C), the tightest clamping in the apiary and a clear sign of active brood regulation; the Apimaye enclosure is absorbing nearly all of the ~20°F outdoor swing. Vibration shows a moderate daily activity rhythm (9 of 15 days with peaks, baseline ~13.6 mG rising to ~19.0 mG, kurtosis 3.3 — normal, no impulsive events, dominant band 80–120 Hz); the 14-day acoustic spectrogram shift toward lower frequencies (100–260 Hz bands up ~10.8 dB) is consistent with fanning and syrup-processing, and the per-band rhythm is strengthening in the 100–150 Hz and 200–260 Hz bands; gas heater-scan shows the largest daily rhythm at the 200°C step (+19% swing) with the low-temperature steps (100–200°C) rising ~22–34% over the window — attributable to the increased syrup-processing VOC load and humidity cycling, not a chemistry shift of concern.
🔬 Correlations & Discoveriestemperature vs gas_resistance (14d) | r = +0.41The genuine deconfounded positive correlation between brood temperature and gas resistance (r=+0.41) in Hive #2 reflects the expected psychrometric and metabolic coupling: as the colony warms the brood nest and intensifies syrup processing, fanning increases and circulates brood pheromones and fermentation volatiles that lower MOX resistance — the temperature rise and the VOC-driven resistance shift are two faces of the same metabolic ramp-up, consistent with Seeley 1974 on CO2 and colony metabolic scaling and with brood-pheromone emission scaling with brood area.📚 Reference: Maisonnasse et al. 2010, PLoS ONE, Seeley 1974, J. Insect Physiol., Bosch Sensortec BME688 datasheet⚠️ Issue: Stores unconfirmed — single-deep volume is the smallest reserve buffer in the apiary; ~8 lb sugar consumed since October 5 is the lowest per-hive uptake and telemetry cannot confirm adequate winter reserves▹ Action: Heft Hive #2 first or alongside the others this week — single-deep capacity means the smallest margin before stores run out, and the lower syrup uptake makes it the hardest to read from telemetry alone▹ Action: Continue daily 1:1 feeder top-ups; if daytime highs drop consistently below 50°F (10°C), place fondant or a sugar brick directly over the cluster — bees cannot cure syrup in the cold▹ Action: If cells are full and the colony is simply not taking more syrup, that is the confirmation you need; if light, feed by weight toward a stores target of at least two full deep combs (~40–50 lb gross) -
Hive #1 healthy Score: 85/100📋 Overall Health
Your Hive #1 remains the most acoustically energetic hive in the apiary relative to its own baseline: averaging 94.5°F (34.7°C) with an exceptionally tight 0.8°F (0.4°C) daily swing and a strong warm offset above the 50.8°F (10.5°C) outdoor temperature — the tightest brood clamping in the apiary and a sign of a well-populated, actively rearing colony; your logs confirm daily feeder top-ups (~8 lb sugar since October 5), and all 10 spectral bands sit 5–11 dB above Hive #1's own all-time baseline (dominant band 260–350 Hz at –12.4 dB, 14-day acoustic rising trend +4.7 dBFS). Humidity averaged 50.2% (24h range 47.8–52.0%), at the lower edge of the healthy band, driven by dry October outdoor air — the same weather pattern shared across the apiary. Heft Hive #1 this week — a strong acoustic and thermal signature is reassuring but cannot confirm what is in the cells.
🌅 Diurnal Cycle PatternsTemperature holds a near-perfect flat line at 94.2–95.0°F (34.6–35.0°C) across the full 24h window — a 0.8°F (0.4°C) peak-to-trough span that is the best brood-clamping figure across the apiary — with the 14-day trend showing a +5.9°F (+3.3°C) warming drift from 88.6°F (31.5°C) to the current setpoint consistent with brood expansion. Vibration shows a healthy daily activity rhythm (11 of 15 days with peaks, baseline ~15.2 mG rising to ~22.7 mG, kurtosis 3.0 — normal, dominant band 80–120 Hz); the sound spectrum shows a dominant daily rhythm in the 1500–3600 Hz band (11.9 dB amplitude), which at this season likely reflects syrup-processing ventilation harmonics; gas resistance at 388,246 Ω is close to its all-time average of 400,855 Ω (–3%), with the 10-step heater-scan showing modest low-step rises (+13–19% at 100–150°C) consistent with syrup-processing VOC activity.
🔬 Correlations & Discoveriessound_energy vs temperature (14d) | r = +0.6The partial correlation between sound energy and brood temperature (r=+0.60, controlling for outdoor weather) in Hive #1 reflects a genuine metabolic coupling: as the brood nest warms toward the 95°F (35°C) setpoint, heater-bee activity and colony fanning both increase, raising acoustic energy — the co-movement of thermal and acoustic channels is a validated multi-sensor signature of an actively rearing, well-populated colony (Kleinhenz et al. 2003; Meikle et al. 2017), and the change-point around October 10 marking the brood expansion step is consistent with the feeding recovery and renewed rearing seen across all four hives this autumn.📚 Reference: Meikle et al. 2017, Apidologie 48:666–680, Harrison et al. 2026, J. Exp. Biol. 229:jeb252357, Kleinhenz et al. 2003, J. Exp. Biol. 206:4217–4231⚠️ Issue: Stores unconfirmed — ~8 lb sugar consumed since October 5; telemetry cannot confirm adequate winter reserves▹ Action: Heft Hive #1 this week as part of the apiary-wide October stores check — a steady brood temperature and strong acoustics are reassuring but cannot confirm what is in the cells▹ Action: Continue daily feeder top-ups; if daytime highs drop consistently below 50°F (10°C), switch to fondant or a sugar brick placed directly over the cluster▹ Action: If light at heft, feed by weight toward a stores target of at least two full deep combs (~40–50 lb gross) -
Hive #3 warning Score: 72/100📋 Overall Health
Your Hive #3 remains the warmest and most acoustically energetic hive in the apiary: averaging 95.6°F (35.3°C) — slightly above the ideal 93–97°F (34–36°C) band but within it — with a 2.3°F (1.3°C) daily swing, a strong warm offset above the 50.8°F (10.5°C) outdoor temperature, and a 14-day rising acoustic trend of +6.8 dBFS with all bands 6–10 dB above the all-time baseline; your logs confirm daily 1-gallon feeder top-ups (~17 lb sugar since October 5, the highest uptake in the apiary). Humidity averaged 37.0% (24h range 34.9–41.6%), continuing below the 40% larval-desiccation watch threshold — the leading driver remains dry October outdoor air and the sustained ventilation effort of this highly active colony, and the humidity watch from the previous report continues. Heft Hive #3 this week — it carries the highest metabolic demand in the apiary and temperature alone cannot confirm stores.
🌅 Diurnal Cycle PatternsTemperature traces a smooth daily arc from 94.7°F (34.9°C) to 97.0°F (36.1°C) — a 2.3°F (1.3°C) peak-to-trough span consistent with healthy brood regulation, though the 24h average at 95.6°F (35.3°C) sits at the warm end of the ideal band, which is consistent with the sensor being in box 2 of 2 (upper deep) where brood heat accumulates. Vibration shows the strongest daily activity rhythm in the apiary (12 of 15 days with peaks, baseline ~19.4 mG rising to ~37.7 mG, kurtosis 2.7 — normal, no impulsive events; dominant rhythm band shifted from 50–80 Hz to 5–20 Hz in the second half, worth watching as a seasonal transition in ventilation posture); the 14-day acoustic spectrogram shows the 260–350 Hz and 350–420 Hz bands rising a further +4.3–4.7 dB above an already-elevated baseline, consistent with intensifying colony activity; gas resistance at 109,871 Ω is near its all-time average of 105,757 Ω (+4%), and the 10-step heater-scan low-step rises (+16–25% at 100–200°C) are consistent with syrup-processing and brood-pheromone activity.
🔬 Correlations & Discoveriessound_energy vs temperature (14d) | r = +0.81The strongest sound-temperature partial correlation in the apiary (r=+0.81, controlling for outdoor weather) in Hive #3 reflects a tightly coupled brood-rearing and metabolic-activity regime: as heater bees push the upper-deep brood nest toward the 35°C (95°F) setpoint, the colony's acoustic output (fanning, forager activity, syrup processing) rises in lockstep — the change-points in both temperature (+3.5°F around October 11) and sound (+6.4 dB around October 10) confirm this as a simultaneous, coordinated metabolic step-up, exactly the multi-channel co-movement that Meikle et al. 2017 associate with an actively expanding, well-populated colony.📚 Reference: Meikle et al. 2017, Apidologie 48:666–680, Kleinhenz et al. 2003, J. Exp. Biol. 206:4217–4231, Human et al. 2006, Naturwissenschaften 93:397–401⚠️ Issue: In-hive humidity averaging 37.0% (24h range 34.9–41.6%) — persistently at and below the 40% larval-desiccation watch threshold; driven by dry October outdoor air and sustained ventilation from this highly active colony; monitor closely⚠️ Issue: Stores unconfirmed — this hive carries the highest metabolic demand and syrup consumption in the apiary (~17 lb since October 5), but a warm brood core confirms activity, not reserves; telemetry cannot see the stores▹ Action: Heft Hive #3 this week — it carries the highest metabolic demand in the apiary and has consumed the most syrup, but a warm brood core confirms activity, not reserves▹ Action: Monitor in-hive humidity: if the 24h low stays consistently below 37% over the next few days, consider whether the screened floor tray can be partially closed to retain moisture — confirm stores are adequate at heft first▹ Action: Continue daily 1:1 feeder top-ups; if daytime highs drop consistently below 50°F (10°C), switch to fondant or a sugar brick placed directly over the cluster — 1:1 syrup cannot be cured in the cold▹ Action: If light at heft, feed by weight toward a stores target of at least two full deep combs (~40–50 lb gross); pair any continued pollen patty with ample sugar to avoid deepening the carbohydrate deficit in this high-demand brood nest