[Fowkes]

I returned home very late tonight from a 10 day trip to find the entire outside of my hive covered in bees. I assume it is a ventilation problem as it has been over 30 degrees C here this past week with no rain. I had put a new deep super on before leaving with 10 frames of foundation (no comb). The novice that I am, I had not drilled a hole(s) in my inner cover, assuming this was something that I should do later in the summer. It's 2:30 am right now and I just finished propping the inner cover up about 1.5 inches on the front with a couple small pieces of wood in the hope that the increased circulation will cool things off (if that is the problem).

I have a screened bottom board to install tomorrow which should help with circulation, as well as an extra super if needed. I also plan on drilling my feeder/vent holes in the inner cover tomorrow morning. Apart from that, I'm not sure if I should be doing anything else to stop them from swarming. So far I can't find a queen in the mix outside, which I'm taking to be a good thing. Also, when I opened the inner cover and shined a flashlight in there were bees inside, so not everyone was hanging out outside.

p.s., the girls were not happy about being woken up at 2:00am but only two of them decided to take a poke at me... considering I was wearing shorts, a t-shirt and no veil I was very impressed at how calm they were. I did fire up the smoker though.

Any helpful suggestions would be great.

 

[avalonweddingsbcs]

they're bearding... didnt cover that in chat..

d

 

[Bens-Bees]

The SBB will make a big difference, a venthilated inner cover would also help (probably more than the SBB), but even with all that, sometimes the bees will still beard, and sometimes for no apparant reason (I have 1 hive that took to bearding at night, and only at night).

If you messed with the bees at 2am and only got 2 stings in shorts... you did good. Last time I had to mess with my bees at 2 am I got about a dozes pokes, and I was in a full suit.

 

[Michael Bush]

If you're sitting on the porch on a hot night enjoying the breeze are you unhappy?

 

[Fowkes]

Thanks for all the help. I hope they're just cooling off and not planning on taking off.

This morning I added a third super (deep), vented the top and provided them with a SBB. It's just past midnight here right now. Still humid and about 25 decrees C, or 77 F. They're still totally covering the front of both bottom deeps (more bees than paint) as well as the landing and upper entrance in the inner cover. Hopefully some of them will go in by morning.

Again, thanks for all the input.

 

[avalonweddingsbcs]

i wish it was 77 here... i'd be runnin aroun in me skivvies.... knickers..... whichever..

why are you checking bees in the dark??


d

 

[Fowkes]

I live in the city and the bees are next to my deck. I don't have to go far to check on how they're doing. I wanted to see if they were returning into the hive at night and bearding during the day.

 

[ccar2000]

My hive also beards up pretty good in the evening. Thats when they all come home. I think it is the most crowded time for the colony and that is a factor. If it is not cold they do not need to go in for the evening.