[jimbo3]

What the heck is going on here? I found a softball sized cluster outside of the entrance last night at 7:30, so it was dark and 32F out. They were moving around, but it was freezing out! It was also crappy most of the day as it snowed several inches.

This morning it was 24 degrees and the cluster had mainly moved in, but they were still sticking out of the entrance. Are they overcrowded or something?

 

[elmer_fud]

I had a hive doing the same thing last week. I think it was they were out of room to cluster inside the hive and started overflowing out the entrance. I expect they will start moving the cluster up and this will correct itself. This is a strong hive, so I am not to worried about the bees they lost doing this.

 

[GregV]

If I had such a case (bees not fitting into a hive just prior to the winter) - I'd rehive them to a bigger box OR add an empty box from below. It is not a good thing to have extremely under-sized hive in winter - talking too much moisture, etc, etc.

 

[jimbo3]

Well I'm hoping they'll figure it out. They have 2 deeps right now. I just hope they're not so big that they go through all their stores too quickly. They seem settled in at the moment. Kind of oddly they were flying today in 40F weather in winds gusting up to 40mph.

 

[elmer_fud]

If I had such a case (bees not fitting into a hive just prior to the winter) - I'd rehive them to a bigger box OR add an empty box from below. It is not a good thing to have extremely under-sized hive in winter - talking too much moisture, etc, etc.

My hive that did this is current sitting at a deep and 3 medium boxes. I think all of the brood are in the bottom box and the cluster was around them. This is a strong hive, and I expect they will start moving up now that the flow has stopped and they are eating their stores

 

[RayMarler]

I've had it happen this time of year where the queen had been superceded and the old queen was in the bunch of bees on the outside of the hive boxes. Very rare, but I have had it happen.

 

[Michael Bush]

As soon as you have some warmth, I would look inside and see what's up. Are they out of room? Are they being forced out by something? SHB have a habit of running bees out of a colony...