Bees on bottom of SBB screen....

[Steve C]

Ok.... It has been raining here very hard on and off for the past 3 days....

I checked on the girls and I have found a small group of bees(>30) on the bottom of the SBB...
I ran them out from under there 3 days ago, and they went into the house but later the next day... they were back again....????


What are some ideas to keep them off of the bottom screen on the SBB...???

Thanks
Steve

[power napper]

Perhaps if they used a top entrance instead of a bottom entrance the bees would be less likely to go to the screened bottom board. I had this dilemma occur when we switched to top entrances this Spring, bees went to the screened bottom. Now that the hives are all top entrances there are no skunk problems nor bees on bottom screens.
Hope this helps!

[BaldyLocks]

Some of mine hang out there...not infrequently. Rather than bearding on the front of the hive, they just beard underneath. It can be a matter of crowding, ventilation, or just plain typical bee behavior depending on who you talk to. Make sure they have ventilation, are not preparing to swarm from overwrowding and then then enjoy the cool view!

[Jeff McGuire]

Try a slatted rack on top of the SBB it gives extra space to cluster. Mine did the same thing untill I put on the slatted racks. Betterbee sells one that has the slatts running underneath the frames instead of across.

[Steve C]

I'm sure it's not overcrowding...??? What I think(very newbee here) is that these are house bee's and don't know how to get back into the front door....???

I don't have this problem when it's not raining.... It's just started to happen with all this rain we have been having....

I think I am going to put some kind of front cover/guard on the bottom/front to keep them from flying out of the entrance and drifting down under, to the screen.... I think they might be smelling the brood and going to it, insted of the hole where they come from....????

[rache]

my nightly beard extends down under the SBB, especially when it rains. and there are usually a couple dozen bees wandering around down there during the day (would they pass off pollen or nectar through the screen, to save the time of going into the hive?)

[BaldyLocks]

They won't get lost that close to the real opening...I doubt it is a problem with house bees not figuring it out. I also wouldn't block up too much. My bet is that the humidity is uncomfortable with the rain so they head outside to the borrom where it is dry and they have a little more space. If you block it up, you may risk other problems. Don't overthink the issue...