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This afternoon my by far strongest hive is bearding. It is the only one of my six hives that was bearding. It look as if every bee in the hive was out on the porch. They covered the front and reached all the way to the ground which is a good eighteen inches.. I have had bearding before but nothing like this. My question is what is going on when they are bearding? I forgot!

Normally, a beard is a sign of a good, strong hive. With yours, tho, it sounds as if they need more room. I suggest checking and if there is not an empty box of frames, add one.

Thanks Wally, I went in this morning and added another box. It was a little crowded and I will have to take honey in a week or so. Checked the other five hives and things looked good. Three were new packages this year and one is a walk away split off of the strong hive it is very strong now. My number six hive is a couple years old an now has three supers on it. The queen is laying in the top two I didn't go in any deeper.
Should anything done or will the bees take care of things?

""The queen is laying in the top two I didn't go in any deeper.""

The queen always lays in the bottom, so the ones below the brood are empty. They should be reversed.