Bees on the underside of the floor

[gwt_uk]

Hello all,
Was passing my apiary this morning and thought I would pop in (don’t usually get the chance to see them during the week).There were a small amount of bees on the underside of the OMF on all hives. Not clustered just 12-20 bees hanging about.
Are these foragers that have returned later in the evening? It was a very cold
night here with frost so would have expected them all to be tucked up in the hive.

 

[BugsInABox]

Hello all,
Was passing my apiary this morning and thought I would pop in (don’t usually get the chance to see them during the week).There were a small amount of bees on the underside of the OMF on all hives. Not clustered just 12-20 bees hanging about.
Are these foragers that have returned later in the evening? It was a very cold
night here with frost so would have expected them all to be tucked up in the hive.

Have they underflown the entrance and then got confused by the pheremones comiing from the OMF. If it's non-trivial I think the advice is to prevent the underflying by hanging a skirt of somesort from below the entrance .

 

[Boston Bees]

Have they underflown the entrance and then got confused by the pheremones comiing from the OMF. If it's non-trivial I think the advice is to prevent the underflying by hanging a skirt of somesort from below the entrance .

Good advice

A bit of wood, or something else, leaning up against the entrance, so that bees that underfly it don't vanish under the hive, is something I always do.

Hive stands are strange things as far as bees are concerned - they aren't used to having entrances with nothing underneath them to land on, and the older ones have to return laden with pollen, and exhausted.

 

[gwt_uk]

Good advice

A bit of wood, or something else, leaning up against the entrance, so that bees that underfly it don't vanish under the hive, is something I always do.

Hive stands are strange things as far as bees are concerned - they aren't used to having entrances with nothing underneath them to land on, and the older ones have to return laden with pollen, and exhausted.

Thanks - two of the stands have long sloping landing boards but the may still underfly.

 

[gwt_uk]

Have they underflown the entrance and then got confused by the pheremones comiing from the OMF. If it's non-trivial I think the advice is to prevent the underflying by hanging a skirt of somesort from below the entrance .

Have they underflown the entrance and then got confused by the pheremones comiing from the OMF. If it's non-trivial I think the advice is to prevent the underflying by hanging a skirt of somesort from below the entrance .

Thanks

 

[enrico]

Just be aware that if you don't do something about under flying you can lose a few hundred bees every cold night!

 

[gwt_uk]

Just be aware that if you don't do something about under flying you can lose a few hundred bees every cold night!

Thanks

 

[WoodenBeam]

You don’t have clipped queens do you?
A favourite place for them to go after falling out the front door. Crawl up and under the OMF.

 

[gwt_uk]

You don’t have clipped queens do you?
A favourite place for them to go after falling out the front door. Crawl up and under the OMF.

No clipped queens. It was maybe a 12-20 bees per hive. So think it must be bees under flying as suggested