bees on outside of hive

[goonerwin]

went out early to check on my hive, there was thousands of bees on the outside of the hive, looks like they were there all night, is this normal due to the recent hot weather, or do i need to add more space, at present in a national with 1 super, on last inspection there was room in the brood box, and was planning to add extra super this weekend

 

[susbees]

Yes is the answer, and add another super when the previous one is full of bees. But you will need to monitor the size of the brood nest as a National is a bit small for many strains of bee.

 

[oliver90owner]

you will need to monitor the size of the brood nest

The underlying hint, I think, was that they may well be preparing to swarm!

That would be my first check, although the unseasonally hot weather (for a British summer! ha ha) may well be the simple answer.

Telling us the hive floor type might be good - this is probably more likely with a solid floor, but there again, last night temps were far in excess of a lot of other 'summer' day temps recently!

RAB

 

[Vergilius]

went out early to check on my hive, there was thousands of bees on the outside of the hive, looks like they were there all night, is this normal due to the recent hot weather, or do i need to add more space, at present in a national with 1 super, on last inspection there was room in the brood box, and was planning to add extra super this weekend

With a solid floor, and on single nat, my bees displayed the exact same behaviour (although they have 3 supers on).

In order to keep the hive ventilated in such heat an awful lot of fanning is required by the bees... That is what the ones at the entrance would have been doing - you can hear it if you go close enough.

And yes, they may have been there all night as last night was hotter than most days we've had so far this "summer".

But 1 super isn't very much for this time of year with a honey flow and (presumably) large colonies. So, if I were you, I would give them some more space - put a super on.

Ben P

 

[Vergilius]

And it's often a good idea to search for an answer to your Q before you start another thread on exactly the same topic!!!

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=11844

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=11833

Ben P