It's the first really hot day of the year. You climb up on the roof, and the new hive - a bee package we installed this spring - has tons of bees all over it. There's a liquid sugar feeder on the top of this hive, and 10' away is a mature hive that might be swarming.
It's been a frustrating bee season so far, and I see this and just think the worst immediately. The mature hive is robbing the young hive for the sugar syrup sitting up in the top of the hive. Or, a swarm is trying to move in - though I'm not sure that is possible. But being up on a hot roof, your brain already starts to melt when you see this.
I take some pictures and send them to my local beekeeping friends, we have a gmail email group, and wait. The mature hive, which I believe has already swarmed once, it very quiet in comparison.
Bees Don't Read Books
My beekeeping teacher told us that the first day of class. So while you are trying to figure out what is going on and how to fix it, the bees are doing what they want.
If the young hive was being robbed, you can try to place a wet sheet over the hive to thwart the attack. (there is a entrance reducer on this new hive to thwart just such an event)
Was the young hive going to swarm? This has happened to friends, though I have never had it happen to me, thankfully. Watch this cool video of us catching a swarm.
Was a swarm trying to move in on a young weak hive? I've never seen this, but my brain was racing through options.
By now I was starting to get replies from my fellow beeks.
Bearding. In other words, the bees are hot. So they are outside the hive.
Doh!
I use what is called a screened bottom board on my hives. It has a screen window built into the floor, and plastic slider that covers the screen. This allows a few things:
- Varrao mite counts with a sticky slider board.
- Varroa mite reduction when the mites fall through the screen and out of the hive.
- Ventilation in the summer, and air flow to cure honey faster.
Previous to this first hot day of the year, we have still been having cool nights, so I have kept the slider board in, as the bees need to keep the brood boxes (where the eggs are laid) warm. Cool drafts at night aren't good for that.
But today the temperature was really high, and a closed in box gets hot. So the bees go outside to cool off. You can see in the first photo that the bees are on the shady side of the hive.
My friends emails asked if I still had the bottom board slider in, and then meltdown subsided. Pull out the slider, the bees will cool down.
Pulling the slider out from the bottom board, slowly...
The plastic slider removed.
BTW, a key thing here is if you bees are on a DIY bee table/stand, the tabletop part of the stand has to have the center cut out, so air can flow to the bottom board.
Hive stand top is cut out to allow air flow.
So I was calmer after that, and felt less than smart, even though I've been doing this for years. Standing back and looking after the fact, it did look like an overheated hive.
But when you walk into it, that isn't always apparent. So once again, its good to belong to a group of beekeepers that you can check with, right there on the roof.
Jessi
I nearly freaked out about this very thing because during the busy week of preparing our gardens I had forgotten to vent the hive knowing that it would be near 95 here in MA! To my horror when I went down to check on them after work it looked like nearly all of the ladies were outside! Oh no!!! After sun down, the bee suit was put on and I went down to install my shim pieces to give them some ventilation. Thankfully most went in by around 10pm and today there weren't nearly as many girls bearding as yesterday. Poor things. I felt terrible! Your post made me feel better and hopefully all will be well in the hive when I go in on Saturday. My fingers are surely crossed!
Eric
it happens to all of us. you may want to remove the shim pieces for next week, its supposed to get cool again. thx!
Nancy Clayton
One of my hives swarmed Wednesday. I had just been outside a few minutes earlier and I thought they were bearding. Next thing I know, my friend, who was unloading some stuff into my barn comes running in and says they were swarming! Of course, 20 ft up in a tree, then 20 min later, gone. 🙁
Eric
Darn!
Pat
I saw this article earlier this week attached to another post of yours. I’m so thankful.
I’m a first year beekeeper and was concerned my hive might have outgrown the hive as I have not yet put on the honey super and observed lots of bees clustered at the openings. I was planning to suit up, add the super, and if needed, split some frames into the NUC box while ordering and building a 2nd hive, but I wasn’t planning to expand until next spring.
After reading your article, I set up a chair and pitcher of iced tea to watch my hive for a while. And, as the temp climbed, more bees accumulated on their porch. When the sun hit the hive, the group almost doubled. So, now, I knew I’d need to give my babes some shade. This is not easy, as I currently have a pile of compost in front of the hive area and very little room to work around an active hive.
Lightbulb!!! I pulled out an inactive patio table umbrella and poked it into the compost pile then opened it up. I also gave the area a light misting with the hose. An hour later, it’s obvious the bees are happier and the doorway congestion was relieved.
So, if you are hot sitting in the sun, so are the bees in your hive!
Eric
good to hear Pat, use what you got! eric.