Are they about to swarm?

[beebop]

Hello all, i did my first inspection of one of my hives this week, they were very congested ,brace comb popping up every where,so after checking for eggs and brood i put on a super and left them to it.I didn't do a good check for queen cells ,i thought it was just too early. Since then the bees are clustering around the entrance (almost blocking it with the amont of bees) and on the outside of the hive.This has been going on for a couple of days now reducing at night but increasing again in the morning. Is this behaviour a precurser to a swarm leaving or is there another reason for it?Any ideas would be useful, thanks.

 

[Flatters]

Hi Beebop
I think you may find that you will need to give a lot more information before you get a full and informed answer. Things like the following may be useful:-
What is the hive configuration (Single or double brood)
Is there a super on and are they up there using it
How much room was there, was it full of bees (the time of day when you did your inspection may be of interest because if it was midday on a warm day a lot of the foragers would have been out)
How much space was left on the frames
Is there a good spread of brood and store and have they got any space to put more in?

I am doing my first inspection of the year today and am interested to see what it's like in there. They have been very busy over the last 6 weeks and have brought a load of pollen in. Mine are on a double National brood so I expect them to be OK for space.

 

[taff..]

Hello all, i did my first inspection of one of my hives this week, they were very congested ,brace comb popping up every where,so after checking for eggs and brood i put on a super and left them to it.I didn't do a good check for queen cells ,i thought it was just too early. Since then the bees are clustering around the entrance (almost blocking it with the amont of bees) and on the outside of the hive.This has been going on for a couple of days now reducing at night but increasing again in the morning. Is this behaviour a precurser to a swarm leaving or is there another reason for it?Any ideas would be useful, thanks.

two highlighted phrases.

if I were in your position I'd get back in the hive and do a propper inspection. find out how many frames of brood there is in there, and check all the play cups of eggs/larvae and Royal jelly. I'm doing an AS this afternoon after finding queen cells yesterday!!

from there you'll have the information you need, if there's eggs/larvae and royal jelly in the play cups, you have a strong indicator they are preparing to swarm.

if they are very congested as you suggest you could aslo consider giving them another super

 

[oliver90owner]

A location might be helpful. A great difference from north of Scotland to the deep south of England.

As mentioned, a deal more info is required and getting it will likely answer your question.

Until then we are simply guessing.

You don't even tell us the entrance size - for all we know, you still have the entrance block in and a solid floor with no top ventilation as your hive configuration.

I would suggest (a wild guess, of course) that you might be one of the many who filled the brood with sugar syrup in the autumn and continued to feed fondant all winter, leaving the bees with little room at this point in the season for any colony expansion. But I simply don't know.

Yes, it could be a precursor to swarming and no, it might not.
Suggest your best idea is go and look. It would help us out considerably!

RAB

 

[Mike a]

First question does your hive have an open mesh floor?
They could be outside to help keep the hive at the right temperature.
If you have solid floor then increase the entrance size.

But

If the hive looked packed with bees on inspection covering all the frames then its likely you have too many idle bees, add a QE & super to give them more space and give the young bees some thing to do this should solve the problem short term.

Next inspection look for

• Quantity of wet stores
• Number of free cells in the brood frames
• % of frames with reasonably sized patch of eggs, larvae and brood and how many frames
• Are all the frames being used if not then you may need to manage these frames
• First signs of play cups
• % of drone brood, and the number of drones in the hive
• How big is the entrance if the cluster of bees are trying to get inside then increase the entrance size
• Are the bees outside lined up fanning near the entrance

Its a lot to look for but if you can answer all these it will help you understand more about what is happening and the course of action you will need to take.

 

[Chris B]

if they are very congested as you suggest you could aslo consider giving them another super

Definitely. Prevention is better than cure and congestion will certainly push them towards swarming. If you've got a third super I would add that too. Things are moving along quickly now.

Have you looked at your other 2 hives yet? Don't delay.

 

[John Ashby]

If the hive is in full sun, what you might be seeing is the bees cooling down the hive.

But i would question the brace comb, where is this being created?

This would imply there isn't enough room and they are preparing to swarm.

Have you clipped the queens wings?



When i started writing this reply this no one had replied, but i had to deal with a delivery just before i got to post

 

[beebop]

more info' for you.

Thankyou for all that infomation,i'll try and give you all more info'
No entrance block,but have only just removed mouse guard.
The hive has a solid floor,
They are on brood and a half,
Plenty of stores and loads of brood,
Yes i probably did over feed,
Not in full sun all day,
On inspection i added a new super which they have moved up into.
I have checked them again this morning and they are outside on the hive wall and seem to be stacked up on top of each other on the floor.
I am in sunny Devon.

 

[Midland Beek]

As per your last post, there is a case for supering and leaving out the entrance block. You would now hope that they quickly take possession of the super.

 

[oliver90owner]

I am in sunny Devon.

Evidence: Over-fed, early start (sunny Devon), contnuing to decline to get out foraging, and previous shortage of space to build comb.

With the reports of swarming going on, I would not be surprised if yours were readying themselves. Read your bees, not the calender!

Regards, RAB