My thought is it could be from the heat but I’m worried they could start to swarm
by Quiet_Reputation_128
My thought is it could be from the heat but I’m worried they could start to swarm
by Quiet_Reputation_128
30 Comments
My thought is it could be the heat pushing them out or they could be getting ready to swarm
Post this over on the beekeeping sub, but that looks like swarming to me.
r/BeeKeeping is where I’d ask
They’re probably looking to swarm. That means they’ve outgrown the hive and the queen will leave and take half the bees with her. You’ll be left with a new queen and half the bees. We caught a swarm from our hive and put it in an empty hive. They usually land nearby. In our case, they landed in a tree about 15 feet away.
You’re about to lose your bees. Let us know how this turns out.
Hi, it’s been a while but I used to keep bees. This is not bearding from heat. They are swarming- you’ve lost essentially ~1/2 your hive. Thankfully it’s early in the season. At this point just feed feed and feed some more and hopefully you’ll make it through the winter
it could be that there’s not enough space in the hive for them
Better go round em up or you’re toast
Bearding or swarming. People already talked about the possibility of swarming. Bearding is a good thing that bees do to control temperature in the hive and the honey. The article below talks about the differences between the 2 behaviors.
https://www.mannlakeltd.com/blog/bearding-are-my-bees-going-to-swarm/#:~:text=Bees%27%20bearding%20is%20a%20sign,control%20the%20internal%20hive%20temperature.
This is not them about to swarm -if you look in the hive and see swarm cells then you know, in that case I’d start splitting immediately also look for queen cells as well
Beekeeper here.
It’s hard to tell by a single photo if that is a swarm cluster or normal bearding. Did you see a lot of bees flying around (almost like a busy airport)? Did you hear a deep humming sound? Are the bees “calm” and just hanging on each other? When was your last inspection? Did you see a large buildup of drone cells (looks like Corn Pops) or queen cells (look like peanut shells)?
I see this post is about an hour old, so I’ll ask: are they still there?
Put you another box out there for them to go into then have 2 hives.
As others have said they’re swarming. When they are done, check your hive for a mite infestation. They might have also just grown too big and you need another empty box nearby.
I do suggest planting a little mite prevention garden under and around your hive.
Rhubarb, with its oxalic acid content, and thyme, known for its essential oil thymol, are have been suggested for their potential in mite control.
Some other things to plant depending on your climate and soil are Savory, Rosemary, Marjoram, and Lavender.
There about to swarm
Housing crisis is all over dude
Heat or they are leaving
they have outgrown their box and your OG queen will take half of the colony and leave behind a new queen, or the OG queen is dead 🕺🏽
Beekeeper here. Counter to the consensus here, I’d not say swarming (yet) because swarming is angry and chaotic and once you see it outside it’s over and done – BUT they are bearding and that is a MASSIVE beard for just two brood boxes. It looks like a third box probably should have been put on long ago. If there are that many bees bearding it means it’s too hot inside which means there’s too many bees and they’re sending that many outside to keep the temps regulated enough to keep the brood healthy and maturing. Again, that many outside just two boxes is not normal, especially on what looks like a cloudy day. If you want to save them you probably need already drawn out comb, or to checkerboard empty frames in between the brood frames and move a brood frame or two up into a third new box. Right above the other brood frames, which are almost always in the middle close to the entrance. You can split a hive like this, but it takes some advanced work, google how to split hives that are about to swarm if that is preferable to checkerboarding, but it may mean buying a new queen.
There is a chance they have filled too many cells in all the frames with nectar and honey, which really means bad genetics and you would need to replace the queen.
Decongesting the hive for temp control. Add a box.
They’re preparing to leave.
It could just be bearding if it’s hot outside.
nature! … THIS, is, the worlds Oldest Proffession… haha, they will get by… they will survive…
It’s hot in there, hoss
Queen died, and there’s not another one?
why they gotta bee like that?
Swarmin maybe?
When another queen is born the hive splits, if they start swirling around thats whats happening you may need another hive
You have to give your bees a new box whenever they’ve taken up 7/10 of the frames. They run out of space and that causes them to swarm. It helps if you confine the queen to one or maybe two boxes. That gives her a space to lay eggs and the foragers a space to store resources without getting in each other’s way too much. It also makes harvesting honey easier because there won’t be brood in too box(es). Let me know if that’s confusing or if you have any questions or anything.
I thought I saw a plume of white smoke……
Brood chamber bees go round the outside round the outside.
That’s bearding. It’s how they regulate the internal temperature of the hive. Nothing to worry about. It’s common as it warms up