Bees on bottom of SBB

[Brent Strange]

Hello all,

I am a new beekeeper and installed a double nuc a week ago. I was reading about top entrances from Michael Bush's website and made myself a migrator cover with the opening the long way. I closed up the bottom entrance today at 5 pm and three hours late found 100+ bees on the bottom of the SBB outside the hive. Weather is clear and in the low 60's with rain tomorrow.

I have the bees in a deep with 8 frames of drawn comb and 2 of foundation and one shallow super with 9 frames and no foundation other than a starter strip 1" wide.

I live in SE Virginia, zone 8a, and it is going to be rainy for the next couple of days. Should I continue to feed? Are there any SE VA beekeepers that can tell me if a honeyflow is on now? The bees are bringing pollen so I assume they are getting nectar as well.

Should I be concerned about the bees on the bottom of the SBB outside the hive? Will they find the top entrance or have I hopelessly confused them? Should I add another shallow super? I plan on running mediums but the shallows were given to me and I have zero money to build boxes now.

Thank you very much for any help.

Brent Strange

[Fenc'in Bee]

The bees on the screen should figure it out. They go to the screen because they smell the hive and think the entrance has got to be there.

If the bees are taking feed you can keep feeding. They should soon stop taking the feed because of the nectar flow. You should be in the middle of your biggest flow now. I am 2+ hrs west of you and we are in the middle of everything, tulip poplar, locust, blackberry and clover are all blooming. Pop the lid about once a week to see if the bees are drawing the comb in the shallow. They can expand very quickly this time of year.

Good Luck,

[Brent Strange]

Thanks Fenc'in Bee. I appreciate the advice. I found them on the screen last night around 8pm and it looks like not as many bees are flying around. How long do you reckon it will take before they leave the screen and fly and reorient themselves?