[mochilaur]

We lost both our hives this winter and I have been cleaning them up to get ready for the nucs I am picking up this weekend. I did leave some honey on a few frames for the bees coming in and not surprisingly bees are now at those hives stealing, but am shocked at how many there are. Just from yesterday when I opened them out to clean them out to today it seems like I have new bees. I will check in the morning to see if they have moved in or not, otherwise I think it is just temporary.

But they also have entered our greenhouse and can't seem to get out or want to get out. They are clumping in small groups - 2-5 is normal but some have 20 or more. What is going on?

 

[JRG13]

They're keeping warm and it helps boost their morale

 

[brooksbeefarm]

Bees are attracted to light and will probably die if not let out.

 

[RayMarler]

Yea, they can't find the door and the light is all diffused so they don't know their way out of the greenhouse.

 

[mochilaur]

Of course - it makes perfect sense. The doors are open but they just go to the top of the greenhouse. We have to close it at night to keep the plants warm so hopefully they will survive until it gets warm enough tomorrow to open them back up.

Any thoughts as to why the other bees have found the hives now? They've been empty for a long time and I just opened them up to clean them up and wallah! All the bees from the neighborhood found their way here. I will be curious tomorrow morning to peak and see if any have found a new home.

 

[ginkgo]

I have to wonder if any will find an exit without your assistance unless perhaps the sun shines directly into a doorway for a time. Screening your doors may be something to consider.

 

[ccar2000]

Perhaps in the late evening you could draw the bees to a light placed outside the greenhouse door? They may find their way home then, maybe.
If the bees in your empty hive have moved in you will see pollen coming in the front door. Robbers don't bring a lunch. Either way they found your hives due to the remaining honey and they are just taking advantage of the situation. You could close up the entrance in the late evening with a piece of wood, screen or tape after the robbers have gone home, also eliminate other access points. They will give up eventually. You will likely have to reduce your entrance or install a robber screen when you hive your new nucs

 

[Bees In Miami]

Those bees are toast without intervention. You drew them in with the old hive and honey smells...they'll never find their way out. They don't know enough to "find the door"....they just go to the light. If you are going to keep those boxes around with honey in them without bees, keep them enclosed. Interesting they found it though. Anybody near you keeping bees? Remember bees forage for miles from their hives when they need to. No way to know where they came from. Sad to see those losses...

 

[mochilaur]

Actually Bees In Miami, I did not draw them in with the old hives. Sorry if it was confusing. The hives are about 300 feet away on a hill from the greenhouse and yes, lots of people around here keep bees. Those that entered the greenhouse did so on their own with only 1 flowering tomato plant (the rest of the plants are still only leaves) - something my bees have never done. I have no idea what drew them in or why they wouldn't leave. I worry that when I get my bees they will exhibit such strange behavior too.
We've certainly had bees in the greenhouses, but in small numbers and then they leave.

As for the hives, stealing it is. They all found their way home once it got dark. I hope they keep away once I get mine tomorrow. I'm not worried about them as much as I am curious about the greenhouse behavior.

 

[Michael Bush]

Their instincts are to go up and to go to light. A vent at the top is about the only solution...

 

[ginkgo]

Have you ever seen insects trapped in a skylight? Flying to a lightbulb or into a flame? Perhaps had fly bashing itself on your windshield when you have the car window rolled down for easy exit? Insects have a perceptual system much different than ours to tell them which way should be "out" -- but it doesn't help them much in glass or plastic roofed structures.

 

[waynesgarden]

Perhaps try luring them back outside by placing a frame with a little honey just outside the door? Thay may not see the door as an exit but they will find the honey.

Wayne