Home▸Entomology & Insect Behaviour▸Summer Nutrition and Foraging Lab

☀️ Summer Nutrition and Foraging Lab

A 3D hive, flower field and water source showing how nectar flow, heat and water access shape honey stores and forager traffic through the summer — and what a dearth looks like.

Entomology & Insect Behaviour3DModerate60 FPS💧 Water

A hive, a flower field and a water source rendered side by side, so nectar flow, heat and how far water has to be carried each translate directly into forager traffic and rising or falling honey stores.

🔬 What It Demonstrates

Nectar foragers (amber) and water foragers (cyan) split the workforce according to nectar flow and temperature, while fanning bees at the entrance scale up with heat to cool the hive — showing why water, not feeding, is the useful summer intervention.

🎮 How to Use

Set active foragers, nectar flow and air temperature, then compare a nearby apiary dish against a distant natural source. Watch honey stores rise or fall and the water stress index respond in real time.

💡 Did You Know?

A single strong colony can use several litres of water on a hot day — placing one shallow, pebble-filled dish near the hives is one of the few genuinely useful summer interventions, precisely because it doesn't interfere with natural foraging.

⚙ Under the hood

A 3D hive, flower field and water source where nectar flow, air temperature and water-source distance drive instanced nectar/water forager traffic, a rising or falling honey-store gauge, and a live water-stress index.

summer-feedingforagingwater-for-beesnectar-dearthuk-beekeeping

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install