I bet the kids got stung more too. Somewhere between urban legend and scientific fact is honeybees are very good at predicting rain and thunderstorms and will

I bet the kids got stung more too. Somewhere between urban legend and scientific fact is honeybees are very good at predicting rain and thunderstorms and will stay in the hive when rain is on the way (and it gets dark in severe storms...). I suppose to the bees, a total eclipse looks like a very intense thunderstorm is about to smash into them, and that makes them hide in the hive. The sting rumor is something to do with bored bees take on guard duty so the law of averages is ten times as many guards means ten times as many stings to innocent beekeepers. In summary most beekeepers know not to work on their hives right before it starts raining and apparently it would be advisable not to work on your hives before a total solar eclipse. Hives cannot survive long in high humidity, if the interior of a hive gets wet mold will set in rapidly so the bees will work extremely hard to dry the hive out after rain if it gets wet; which probably explains the instinct to hide and stay safe when its about to rain (or, much less often, eclipse)