hive with bees on the ground.

[reef10]

We had a warm day so the girls were flying. In front of the hive was a bunch ~100 bees that were sitting on the grass. This is occurring in front of both hives. Now that night is here I checked again and they are still there. They don't show signs of DWV ie they have normal wings. I don't think they are drones. This is the first warm day in a couple of weeks. Is this normal or is there a problem I should look for in the hive? The bees on the ground will freeze tonight and they are not going back in.

[Maryland Beekeeper]

tough to recommend inspection in winter, sounds abnormal to me, that said I'll leave it for others to decide if it could be a situation in need of or with hope of remedy.
Cheers,
Drew

[reef10]

I have one hive at another location about 6 miles away. I checked that hive and I am not seeing the same thing. It is not a huge amount of bees but is it something to be worried about? Any other ideas about what it could be?

[beepro]

This is obviously not a normal sign for the bees. 200 is a lot of bees on the grass at this cold winter days. My little hive has normal 200 bees flying around in a sunny 50F degree. When you have many bees then not a concern but when your hive just have fewer bees then it is a big concern for me. Reading from other folks aobut their abnormal bee situation makes me very concern about mine too.
So I have not much idea what it is. Might suspect something wrong inside the hive though. In winter time the small moth larvae can hatch too. I just picked off one and took out the frame last night. But will definitely scoope up the bees to put back into the hive if no known problem I seen. Because when temp drop into the 30s they will die outside. Try to find to see if there is a queen bee in that pile the next time it happens. Definitely not a normal sign I think. Hope this helps.

[Will O'Brien]

It is probably too late now, but I would not put the bees back into the hive. They left the hive and did not return for a reason. Forcing them back into the hive could put sick bees in with the rest of their sisters and spread disease. If they die in the hive then it will be more work for the bees to get them out and dead bees will be in the hive for weeks or months, depending on the weather.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

[Will O'Brien]

Reef10, I am interested in an update on your situation if you care to give one.

[Rick 1456]

My HO is they are out for a reason as well. Bees that are sick and or in the process of dying, will evict themselves from the hive if possible. If not, the house girls will do this. Just a thought, if the bees are starving, bout to die, this may be happening???? Any robbing on warm days?? Weak hives getting robbed can have a pile of dead and dying bees. It's tough to tell sometimes between bees flying cause it's warm vs robbing or both going on at the same time. Thinking out loud
Rick

[Bailey11]

Reef10, You are not alone. A couple of weeks ago I also saw at least a hundred or so bees outside one of my hives on the ground scattered and also a small cluster (tennis ball size) right under the hive stand. I really need to start taking pics. I did not see any deformed wings from this hive, but I do have varroa mites in all of my hives and have not treated. There was no queen in that small cluster and the hive was still humming. All of the bees that were on the ground died. Popped the lid and took a quick look a few days later and there is still a pretty large cluster moving around in there so I closed her back up. This hive is 2 deeps, 10 frames each. I have screened bottoms, so I took a look underneath and see the girls also cleaned up the dead that were lying there prior to this activity and felt like that was a good sign.

Keep us posted. This will be my second winter with bees, so I am curious and hopeful (-: Thanks for sharing.

[Ian]

sounds like pesticide poisoning to me

[reef10]

They were still active enough to send out a bee to sting me. I think the hives are doing ok. I brought some of the bees inside to look them over and I did not find any varrolla mite. As they warmed up they were coming back to life. Neat to watch. Both hive are new this year and have some but not many mites. I had the same thought about not returning sick bees to the hive. I don't think its pesticide because I don't think anybody would be spraying, but you never know. If it stays warm enough I will take a quick peek just to see.

[Ian]

ya, not likely ,
not really sure what kind of weather your having or your seasonal growth.

If I come across a hive that has a pile of bees out infrount of the hive, dead and alive, that is a sure sign of pesticide poisoning.

[FlowerPlanter]

Sounds like chilled bees. Put them in a container bring them inside warm them up.