Cloud of bees outside hive

[Beagle23]

I came back to my house around lunchtime today and found a small cloud of 2-300 bees buzzing around in front of the hive.I don't think it's a cast swarm (too small), and my young queen is mated and laying so it's not a mating flight.
Any ideas as to what else may be causing this?

My best guess is that a whole bunch of brood hatched around the same time and are out on their test flights together...?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Your hunch is right

 

[enrico]

Yep, and the temperature just reached optimum to fly so out they all came together.
E

 

[Moggs]

Orientation flights. Fixing the position of the hive before stage 2 - tuning the sat nav.

 

[user 6228]

or it could mean nothing at all.

 

[Millet]

or it could mean nothing at all.

It must mean something surely,i don't think bees would waste there energy for no reason.

 

[steve1958]

I witnessed a similar situation today with one of my colonies. It took them a while before they were all back in the hive. They didn't appear unhappy, so I left them to it.

 

[Beagle23]

I witnessed a similar situation today with one of my colonies. It took them a while before they were all back in the hive. They didn't appear unhappy, so I left them to it.

Yep they seemed happy enough.
Thanks everyone.

By Jove, I think I'm getting the hang of it

 

[Millet]

Yep they seemed happy enough.
Thanks everyone.

By Jove, I think I'm getting the hang of it

No chance.. come back in 300yrs and say the same thing

 

[user 6228]

It must mean something surely,i don't think bees would waste there energy for no reason.

it might mean something to them ... I've seen them do this often,I called it the "mad half hour" saw one of our colonies do it around 5 pm. It not the gentle wide looping flight thats called "orientation" its more frantic. its not the "boiling out of the hive " the beginning of a swarm. There's still lots to learn about bee behaviour.

 

[JWF]

You get this kind of thing when the drones come out en masse when conditions are right for mating flights, and the noise is quite impressive!