I had a swarm 2 weeks ago. I have not opened the hive since I was waiting for the new queen to get established. I have a top feeder on the hive but I haven't been filling it since the swarm The last time I opened the hive It appeared that the bees had filled all cells with sugar water and had no room for laying. The last couple days the hive has been bearding. The bees cover the screened bottom board.
I plan to inspect today. Should I add a box?
Could the bees be ready to swarm again?
Bearding
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hchenderson2002
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2016 8:50 am
- Location: North Greensboro, NC
Re: Bearding
Welcome to the forum. Since all beekeeping is local, it would help if you put your general location (City or County) in your profile. While we focus on Piedmont North Carolina, we don't turn other folks away. With that, I'll take a stab at the general questions I can answer. Specific actions depend on where you are and what may be going on with the bees at your location.
Bearding is usually a sign of a healthy hive involved in temperature control--bees go out and hang off the landing board to reduce temperature and humidity in the hive. If you have been feeding all during the nectar flow, your hive may have become "nectar" bound, adding both to a sense of crowding in the hive and that there was plenty of forage available. Both of these conditions encourage swarming.
Bearding is usually a sign of a healthy hive involved in temperature control--bees go out and hang off the landing board to reduce temperature and humidity in the hive. If you have been feeding all during the nectar flow, your hive may have become "nectar" bound, adding both to a sense of crowding in the hive and that there was plenty of forage available. Both of these conditions encourage swarming.
Re: Bearding
I have one more thing for you to look for when you inspect. If you have bees clustering on your screened bottom board, your queen may have gone on her mating flight and gone under the screened bottom board instead of into the hive. I have had this happen twice. On inspecting the hive, the bees were calm and there were plenty of highly polished cells, but no capped brood, eggs or larvae. I took the supers off of the bottom board and gently shook the bees onto the super that was going just above the bottom board. I put the hive back together, and when I checked a week later, in each case I saw eggs.
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hchenderson2002
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2016 8:50 am
- Location: North Greensboro, NC
Re: Bearding
Thanks to all for responding quickly.
I am in the north Greensboro area.
I took your advice and attempted to shake the bottom board over the bottom super. I inadvertently jarred the bottom board before I got it over the box and ended up with a mass of Bees on the ground. Still I shook the bottom board over the box and still got a goodly amount of the bees in there. I was concerned that I my have dumped the queen on the ground and called Rob to discuss.
The mass of bees on the ground eventually joined the hive without any clumps hanging out on the ground so that's a sign that the queen is not on the ground.
Although I still have bearding it not as much as it was. I looked for pollen on bees returning to the hive and I did see some. So that Is a indication that the hive is getting back to normal. I will give it a week and inspect for activity in the hive.
Thanks for your assistance.
I am in the north Greensboro area.
I took your advice and attempted to shake the bottom board over the bottom super. I inadvertently jarred the bottom board before I got it over the box and ended up with a mass of Bees on the ground. Still I shook the bottom board over the box and still got a goodly amount of the bees in there. I was concerned that I my have dumped the queen on the ground and called Rob to discuss.
The mass of bees on the ground eventually joined the hive without any clumps hanging out on the ground so that's a sign that the queen is not on the ground.
Although I still have bearding it not as much as it was. I looked for pollen on bees returning to the hive and I did see some. So that Is a indication that the hive is getting back to normal. I will give it a week and inspect for activity in the hive.
Thanks for your assistance.