Small clump of bees outside hive on ground

[mvanek]

Hello.
I'm new to beekeeping.  I installed my hive 2 days ago and everything seems to be fine so far.  I saw a small pile of live bees on the ground right in front of the entrance today.  They stayed there the whole day, but went inside at night.  Does anyone know what they were doing?  Everything still seems fine, I'm just interested in understanding.

Thank you!


Also, the bees seem to be flying all around during the day, but I can't see any actually on any flowers in the area...is this normal for the first few days?

[Irwin]

It takes them a few day's to find what they like. It may be your flower's it maybe some wild flower's around your place. I rarely see my bee's on my weed's in my yard. On the clump thing did you spill any sugar water there ?

[JP]

Are you by any chance using screen bottom boards? If so, bees will clump on the bottom because the open screen confuses them. After a few days or so, they figure it out and go in through the entrance.

As Irwin said, there are some internal workings going on within a new package install that occupies them for a few days or so. Try not to worry, all should be well.

I'm modifying my post because I realized you said the clump was on the ground but will keep the info I mentioned for anyone with that issue (bees under SBB).

Who knows for sure why they were clumped on the ground. Possibilities: syrup soaked, disoriented...

It happens.


...JP