What Is Everyone?s Bees Doing Outside?

[The15thMember]

I went up to the apiary after lunch today and was greeted by a huge amount of bees out on the face of one of my hives.  It's in the upper 60's today, so it's plenty warm for some bees to be out and about, and the rest of the hives have a few bees hanging around at the entrances, but I've never seen anything like this.  I sat and watched them for about 15 minutes, and I can't figure out what they are doing.  There is no fighting, it doesn't seem like a swarm as their behavior isn't hectic, and every once and while a bee starts waggle dancing, but it doesn't go on very long.  The flying bees look almost like they are orienting.  This is the same hive that was waggle dancing on the porch about a week ago.  This is my first time posting videos, so let me know if they are not working.  Does anyone know what all these bees are doing? 


https://youtu.be/k6klOVtNAKA 
https://youtu.be/WXgYdbwA2SU

[gww]

I really do not know but if the hive next door has bees in it, robbing would be my first instinct at this time of the year in my area.
Cheers
gww

[The15thMember]

I really do not know but if the hive next door has bees in it, robbing would be my first instinct at this time of the year in my area.
Cheers
gww

The hive next door does have bees in it.  I checked on their feed a few days ago.  They're not packed in there, but the population seemed decent enough.  I included them in the picture to contrast this hive with what the other hives were doing, which was just a couple bees out on the porch. 

3 hours later they are still on the outside of the hive.  Now that the temp is dropping they are basically just bearding.  I really don't think it's robbing, especially not the way they looked a few minutes ago.  It's almost like the hive is just so packed with bees that they are just hanging out outside.  I didn't think they were overstuffed when I put them away for winter, but maybe there just isn't a lot of room in their for all of them.  It would explain why they were using the outside of the hive as a dance floor a little while ago.   

[Ben Framed]

Im with gww, I don't know what they are doing either. But my bees were very active today. (Warmed up to 72!) and sun shine...
First time they have been so active in quite a while because of cool weather. Freezing and frost nights here lately and not very warm.  I just figured my bees were taking advantage of the day, out and about.. lol. If you have other hives than pictured might be a good idea to check as gww suggested just to be safe.... If you do have other hives, what are they doing?

I was in the shop earlier (which happens to the the place where I store my empty combs). They can't get to them but they know they are there and would like too. Many bees trying...

Phillip

[The15thMember]

Im with gww, I don't know what they are doing either. But my bees were very active today. (Warmed up to 72!) and sun shine...
First time they have been so active in quite a while because of cool weather. Freezing and frost nights here lately and not very warm.  I just figured my bees were taking advantage of the day, out and about.. lol. If you have other hives than pictured might be a good idea to check as gww suggested just to be safe.... If you do have other hives, what are they doing?

I was in the shop earlier (which happens to the the place where I store my empty combs). They can't get to them but they know they are there and would like too. Many bees trying...

Phillip

It should be warm again tomorrow, so I will just peek in through the moisture quilts to see what everyone looks like.  I have four hives right now.  Two are a bit smaller in population, the tree hive on the left in the picture is one of them, and I don't see as much activity from them on warm days, which would be expected.  The second stronger hive just had maybe 10-15 bees on the porch, coming and going when the afternoon was warmest, nothing like this hive.  Once it got dark all the bees went back inside.  I guess we'll just see if they do the same thing again tomorrow. 

Now there is one other thing which was new yesterday and today which I neglected to mention, and that is that I put some old honey frames out for the bees to clean on the other side of the property.  I fairly certain they are far enough away to not cause any robbing. 

Wait, I just realized something I may have been misunderstanding.  I thought gww meant that this hive was BEING ROBBED, but, gww, did you mean this hive was ROBBING OUT the tree hive?  There wasn't any heavy traffic at the tree hive while this hive was "bearding".  And the tree hive isn't extremely tiny, I feel like I'd have seen some resistance from them.  I don't know, do robbing hives display this kind of bearding behavior?   

[Ben Framed]

I did not see robbing in the hive that was next to the active one in todays videos. That is why I ask if there were other hives and what was going on with them. If their is, or was robbing, it might be one of the other ones. I am wondering if gww 'might be' thinking the same?

I am a little concerned about the quiet 'next door' hive Member. With the right side hive so active and the left hive so quiet brings this slight concern. Peeking in would be a good idea for an accurate assessment. What was you temperatures today?

[gww]

I was thinking the hive with the activity was the one being robbed.  You might want to wait rather then worry about what I say.  There are better bee people then me on this site that may yet answer.  One pretty sure way to tell with out getting in the hive is if there is junk on the landing board.  If it were robbing from the comb, they would tear them up pretty good and you would be able to tell at the entrance.  I will watch what you come up with and may learn with you.
Good luck
gww
Ps  Your quiet hive was acting more like mine were today and it was 71 degrees here.

On the other hand.  If you were feeding, that would explain waggle dance and maybe this is the only hive that found it or had the work force to take advantage of it.

[Ben Framed]

I was thinking the hive with the activity was the one being robbed.

Good point gww... I didn't think of that, went over my head, my thinker wasn't thinking.. lol

I will watch what you come up with and may learn with you.

Same here..

[The15thMember]

I was thinking the hive with the activity was the one being robbed.  You might want to wait rather then worry about what I say.  There are better bee people then me on this site that may yet answer.  One pretty sure way to tell with out getting in the hive is if there is junk on the landing board.  If it were robbing from the comb, they would tear them up pretty good and you would be able to tell at the entrance.  I will watch what you come up with and may learn with you.
Good luck
gww
Ps  Your quiet hive was acting more like mine were today and it was 71 degrees here.

On the other hand.  If you were feeding, that would explain waggle dance and maybe this is the only hive that found it or had the work force to take advantage of it.

Thanks for clarifying, gww.  I'm almost certain this hive was not being robbed.  There were no bees checking cracks, no bees fighting, and no debris that you speak of.  I guess it's possible they were just really excited about the food I put out. 

I am a little concerned about the quiet 'next door' hive Member. With the right side hive so active and the left hive so quiet brings this slight concern. Peeking in would be a good idea for an accurate assessment. What was you temperatures today?

It was about 65 here today, and tomorrow is supposed to be up into the 70's, so I'll pop the tops and just take a quick peek at everybody tomorrow.   

[Ben Framed]

Now there is one other thing which was new yesterday and today which I neglected to mention, and that is that I put some old honey frames out for the bees to clean on the other side of the property.  I fairly certain they are far enough away to not cause any robbing.

Was there bees all over those clean up frames? If so that is most likely your answer...

[The15thMember]

Was there bees all over those clean up frames? If so that is most likely your answer...

I think so.  I put the frames in a hive box with a lid on top of the corrugated roof of one of our goat sheds, so the bees could sneak in and clean it up, but it's more or less protected from rain or bigger critters for a few days.  There were a decent amount of bees checking out the box, and I could kind of peek under and see that there were bees in there, but I'm not sure how many.  I agree though, that seems too coincidental that this hive is extremely active on the first nice day after I put those frames out.     

[BeeMaster2]

Member,
It does not look like robbing to me. It does look like usurpation to me. I swarm of bees may bee taking over this hive. Is your queen marked. Keep an eye out for your old queen ending up on the ground out front.
Jim Altmiller

[The15thMember]

Member,
It does not look like robbing to me. It does look like usurpation to me. I swarm of bees may bee taking over this hive. Is your queen marked. Keep an eye out for your old queen ending up on the ground out front.
Jim Altmiller

I was wondering about that.  It would explain the orientation flights.  But wouldn't that be odd for this time of year?  I guess it could have been an absconded colony, as opposed to a swarm.  My queens are not marked, so I wouldn't be able to be sure that way, but I'll check the ground for queens anyway.  Would there be fighting with a usurpation?  This hive is very strong and full of bees.  Wouldn't they attempt to resist the usurpers?     

[BeeMaster2]

Yes bees would be fighting but you probably missed it during the initial take over.
Yes it was probably a hive that absconded. I only see it at this time of year.
Jim Altmiller

[Acebird]

You could open up both hives and check the population.  On a three box hive the two top boxes should be honey and the bottom one being the nest.  If there is a big difference in population they shouldn't be the same size.  Are you feeding with mouse guards on?  I would think it is the wrong time of year to feed but I don't know NC.

[The15thMember]

Yes bees would be fighting but you probably missed it during the initial take over.
Yes it was probably a hive that absconded. I only see it at this time of year.
Jim Altmiller

Thanks for the info, Jim.  If they aren't behaving this way again today, I bet that's what it was.

You could open up both hives and check the population.  On a three box hive the two top boxes should be honey and the bottom one being the nest.  If there is a big difference in population they shouldn't be the same size.  Are you feeding with mouse guards on?  I would think it is the wrong time of year to feed but I don't know NC.

Actually the top box is a moisture quilt, all my hives are wintered in 2 mediums.  The tree hive colony is not extremely small, at least they weren't when I last checked, they just aren't bursting at the seams like this colony.  I was not able to finish my fall feeding while I was doing my emergency treating, so I put some sugar balls on all the hives as emergency food, because I doubt they are up to the winter weight I'd like.  I'm going to heft today too, to check where everyone's at with food.     

[beesnweeds]

In my area this time of year it would be heavy cleansing flights and bees reorganizing the cluster, maybe not in southern states.  It doesnt look like robbing to me and I have never had hives usurp.  Do bees just give up when they get usurped or are there some dead fighting bees?  But if you do suspect usurpation, I would do an OAV or OAD and take a mite count.

  If the bees are from an absconding hive they are probably covered in mites.

[The15thMember]

In my area this time of year it would be heavy cleansing flights and bees reorganizing the cluster, maybe not in southern states.  It doesnt look like robbing to me and I have never had hives usurp.  Do bees just give up when they get usurped or are there some dead fighting bees?  But if you do suspect usurpation, I would do an OAV or OAD and take a mite count.

  If the bees are from an absconding hive they are probably covered in mites.

I'm not set up for oxalic unfortunately, but it's not a bad idea.  And I just finished a treatment with ApiLife Var. . . .

So after checking on them periodically all day, I saw nothing odd from them.  They were acting just like the other hives, some people coming and going, but nothing extravagant.  The food is still out, so it clearly wasn't that.  I'm inclined to think Jim is right.  I did check the ground for a queen, but I didn't see one, although I could have easily missed her with all the leaves around my hives.  I could do an inspection tomorrow, as the temps should still be warm enough.  On the one hand I'd like to see what's going on in there, but on the other hand, our lows will be back down to freezing in a couple of days, so I'm not sure I should break their seals.  Is there any reason I should, or should not, inspect them tomorrow?     

[BeeMaster2]

Member,
I personally would not do an inspection at this time of year. As you said the hives are sealed up and they may not be able to get them sealed back up before it chills back down.
What will you gain by inspecting the hive at this time of year?
Jim Altmiller

[gww]

I agree with jim
gww