Beekeeping: Hot or Crowded Bees?
Are my bees ready to swarm? Are they just hot? What do you think? Please comment below.
24 Responses to Beekeeping: Hot or Crowded Bees?
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Are my bees ready to swarm? Are they just hot? What do you think? Please comment below.
Thank You for the responce. I was all over yor videos last night. I think more people need to do this not just for the honey but for nature as we are destroying the world slowly and bees are really taking it bad. We need them for our soil and hydroponic gardens:) Thanks for the quality videos.
ericsalamun
July 19, 2013 at 4:19 am
Watch my video “Beekeeping: Staining & Weatherproofing English Garden Beehives”
LDSPrepper
July 19, 2013 at 4:54 am
A little off topic but what did u finish the hive with? LOOKS AWSOME. I love the wood look better than white paint.
ericsalamun
July 19, 2013 at 5:07 am
Thank you for your comment. I do use a screen bottom board and found it really helps with ventilation and keeping the hive cool. I “close” it in winter.
LDSPrepper
July 19, 2013 at 6:05 am
Definitely not swarming. When bees swarm, 60% of the hive swarms. It looks like about 1 or 2% their. Screened bottom boards is the way to go. Helps ventilate the hive and reduces Varroa mite counts in your hive. What you see here is a common practice of bees. Sometimes they just like to hang out outside the hive.
Jamin Dwyer
July 19, 2013 at 6:06 am
Thanks for your comment.
LDSPrepper
July 19, 2013 at 6:26 am
hi, you probably know this by now, but I am just putting a comment so that ppl watching this see that your problem has an elegant solution: There is a second type of bottom you use to keep parasites and to help you with ventilation. It is net-like (not native in English, it may have a name it goes by,,, probably si not called “that net-like thingie” 😉
Martin Miljkovic
July 19, 2013 at 7:00 am
Awesome. Thank you.
LDSPrepper
July 19, 2013 at 7:10 am
This phenomenon is known as bearding. The bees are outside of the hive to help fan air into the hive to keep it at the right temperature. Also the more bees in the hive the more heat their bodies will produce so some move just outside to prevent an over abundance of body heat from raising the temperature inside too high. The bees know what they are doing and this isn’t an indication a swarm will occur soon so this is nothing to worry about.
tombocombo5
July 19, 2013 at 8:03 am
Here in Malta the weather will be hot during the summer season around 30 degrees in the shade. What I do with my hives is that i drill holes on the side of the hive and put some plastic mesh to prevent robbing or other dudes trying to enter. In my opinion you need to crack open all the hive and check if you have any queen cells which would be a sign that they are ready to swarm. If you don’t find any queen cells then they are just hot. if there are queen cells prepare to split the hive.
Jean Paul
July 19, 2013 at 8:38 am
It can’t be down to crowding because most of them will be about foraging and most likely if there is overcrowding u will defo start to see queen cups being made which is a sign they might go into swarm mode soon because space is one of the factors – however i think this was down to being HOT and i can see some of the bees fanning at the entrance. Do you have a mesh floor or solid???? anyways next time take off the top roof and leave the inner one also give them sum shade
pimpjuice739
July 19, 2013 at 8:40 am
It can’t be down to crowding because most of them will be about foraging and most likely if there is overcrowding u will defo start to see queen cups being made which is a sign they might go into swarm mode soon because space is one of the factors – however i think this was down to being HOT and i can see some of the bees fanning at the entrance. Do you have a mesh floor or solid???? anyways next time take off the top roof and leave the inner one also give them sum shade
pimpjuice739
July 19, 2013 at 8:43 am
I’m in Texas. But I understand when it is hot this is what they do.
LDSPrepper
July 19, 2013 at 9:22 am
Are you in Utah? My hive here in Spanish Fork did the exact same thing. It’s hot.
icecherrycoke
July 19, 2013 at 9:24 am
i forgot to tell you guys i don’t have bee hive
Mr217577
July 19, 2013 at 9:34 am
if the other bees arent crowded probaly is that the 2nd is crowde or they want to make more honey or there very hot
Mr217577
July 19, 2013 at 10:17 am
Good time to make sure they have sugar water too.
Bees here in Fla. are doing this and the heat is getting to them. Time to cool them down….:)
ekadify
July 19, 2013 at 10:30 am
Good time to make sure they have sugar water too.
ekadify
July 19, 2013 at 11:22 am
Thanks for your comment and suggestion.
LDSPrepper
July 19, 2013 at 11:49 am
You’re right — it’s just an indication of a strong hive doing well… In warm/hot weather bees will often clump out the front. They are more likely to do this when the supers are full so don’t wait until Friday…. crack it open and have a look. 🙂 If they’re on a good nectar source they could easily fill one of your supers in a week….
cobbuilder
July 19, 2013 at 12:32 pm
You have a very cool channel. I do not have any bees myself but I find beekeeping fascinating. I subscribe to mugsyjeff. He has been a beekeeper for years and also has a wonderful channel. He is a very friendly guy and a terrific resource for me and maybe for you too. Check it out and see what you think. Everything looks great! Have a good day! Jackie
JaxRL
July 19, 2013 at 1:20 pm
Wow, 95 degrees. Here in SoCal, we haven’t had a day over 75 in over a month! I enjoy all the vids Brother.
SultanOfShinola
July 19, 2013 at 1:21 pm
I don’t think you have a problem, really. Seems you have decent air circulation. I personally use spacers at the top with a 3/4″ hole in the front (wine cork size so I can plug it if I need to) and always put that at the top, right under the cover. It seems to allow better airflow. The other thing you may do is move your super they’ve started working, back down. They may have not found it up there yet and are crowding the brood box. Put the super down and they may go back up to work it.
chuckarama451
July 19, 2013 at 1:55 pm
From the PM’s and comments it seems that the hive is growing and doing well. They are probably just hanging out to cool off after a hot day of work. Nothing to worry about here. Thanks for all your comments and PM’s.
LDSPrepper
July 19, 2013 at 2:03 pm