[Jgabbard]

I am new to this but here lately my bees are hanging out outside the hive allover the front of the box at first i thought they was swarming and i asked a guy thats been messing with bees his whole life and he said they was to hot and he told me to raise the roof up with 2 sticks and it keeps it cooler but they are still doing it. they stay out all night and even in storms


Please help

 

[dbarry]

Mine were doing that in the heat too. Took the dog out at 11pm w/ the flashlight and shined light on hive and was surprised to see so many bees outside. Temps returned to normal and so did the bees.

 

[The General]

Indeed hot temps.

Seems the hive saves energy and resources by having bees that are currently unemployed hang out outside instead of inside and creating unnecessary heat that they need to deal with. Also, they might need another box!

Been 90's the last few days and my hives have had massive beards hanging from the top entrances(5-7 inchs long and 3 in thick covering the overhang from my lid/entrance). But today on the cool day we had, everyone was inside and business as usual for them.

It really is an awesome sight to watch however if you have top entrances, the beard covers the whole entrance but leaves 2 1in gaps on the left and right side for ventilation and entrances for field bees.

From what I've seen and learned this year, Bees are quite the masters at regulating temperatures.

 

[Jgabbard]

But why are they not going back in when its raining?

 

[The General]

Is there room for them to go back into? Pop the top when they are bearding like that and look at the bee density inside and judge. If the inside is jam packed, add a box for them to move into.

 

[beemandan]

But why are they not going back in when its raining?

Why would they? The same issues exist. They need to keep the interior of the nest around 95F. Adding a truckload of bees and all of their biological heat isn't going to help....rain or shine.

 

[Jgabbard]

i will check tomorrow thanks guys

 

[Kevtater]

Nothing to worry about all the hives I looked at today we're doing it. I see it as a good thing, lots of bees.

 

[RayMarler]

It's usually nothing to worry about, it's bees hanging out to give air passages in the hive so they can regulate the heat and humidity inside. I have found that adding a box of frames on the bottom of the stack will reduce or eliminate it, you can try that if you see that they are out of room in the hive.

 

[rolftonbees]

My hive with messy convoluted comb and too thick comb was doing that in the early spring when temps were still chilly at night. When I removed a couple of really thick frames that were stuck together as a single mass and replaced them with new frames and foundation they stopped hanging out front.

 

[tonysea]

The a/c aint working and they are chillin out front,No worries that's bee A/C. Bearding is normal.Its all good,keep an eye on space,,i know you guys are as hot and stupid humid as we are in NC.

 

[Bees In Miami]

Remove the feeder, any entrance reducer, and you may likely need to give them more space. Couldn't tell if you still have the entrance reduced, but it looks like you may. This will ease the crowding, but in the warm weather, bearding is normal. Just make sure the entrance is open for them to ventilate the hive as needed, and that they have room to grow. I am in South Florida, and have never vented my hives from the cover...but that is just one opinion.

 

[Michael Bush]

Bearding:
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfaqs.htm#bearding

 

[mrobinson]

Bearding is normal in summer. Don't worry about it.

 

[Hogback Honey]

That is so strange, it has been HOT here, and my bees have not bearded like that picture. They hang out on the porch at night, but not to that extent.