Hi all,
Silly question, but what do you do with any mass of bees on inner covers, feeding apparatus, etc. when you inspect? When I am inspecting and need to get to the frames, I put the woodwork off to the side. Most of the time there are clumps of bees hanging out on it (~ 1-2 cups worth). They usually slowly fly off and (presumably) back into the hive because when I go to wrap things back up, most are not there any longer.
Should I brush them off into the hive before setting the woodwork aside? Will that raise the alarm level? My concern is that since I don't use a queen excluder, and rare of a chance as it may be, I might be leaving the queen out while inspecting. The hive entrance also gets a great deal busier with bees trying to get back in and admittedly it can be a little disconcerting when I am trying to stay focused on what I am doing.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
Silly question, but what do you do with any mass of bees on inner covers, feeding apparatus, etc. when you inspect? When I am inspecting and need to get to the frames, I put the woodwork off to the side. Most of the time there are clumps of bees hanging out on it (~ 1-2 cups worth). They usually slowly fly off and (presumably) back into the hive because when I go to wrap things back up, most are not there any longer.
Should I brush them off into the hive before setting the woodwork aside? Will that raise the alarm level? My concern is that since I don't use a queen excluder, and rare of a chance as it may be, I might be leaving the queen out while inspecting. The hive entrance also gets a great deal busier with bees trying to get back in and admittedly it can be a little disconcerting when I am trying to stay focused on what I am doing.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!