Bees outside in a huddled circle. What’s going on?

[Courty]

Hi,
I hope the photo has uploaded to show what’s happening.
I noticed some dead bees on the wooden pallet that my hive is on. They looked like they had sat out in the sun but died of cold instead.
Today there were bees in small cluster all facing the middle on the pallet. They seemed to be huddling. The hive was very busy with bees bringing in pollen. These outcasts were in various places around the hive, from groups of three to six or seven.
I’ve taken a picture of the biggest group today, all alive, but clearly not going anywhere.
What’s happening?

Thanks

Courty

 

[enrico]

I don't think the dead bees and the clusters are related. The clusters are interested in something, maybe a damp latch or two. The dead bees are just that, bees ejected for whatever reason.
E

 

[Courty]

They don’t seem to have much energy, they are slow and lethargic and put their faces together. They are on the pallet and on some old carpet I put down to suppress weeds.
There are single bees too just sat doing very little. In contrast the flying bees were very busy coming and going in and out of the hive.

 

[Hivemaker.]

They are most likely just chilled.

 

[enrico]

If you have an omf floor then check in the evening they are not clustered underneath it. Common occurrence for them to get under it and not be able to get in hive through floor mesh. Fall off at night when cold. In fact I am pretty sure this will be the cause. Block the gap between the entrance and the ground to stop them under flying.
E

 

[Courty]

Thanks Enrico, you could be right. Unfortunately I put my hive, it’s a Abelo polyhive, on a wooden pallet sat on an old marble slab. It’s a bit difficult to stop them going under. The OMF has the inspection tray in place so it’s not easy for them to get to the mesh underneath.
The hive has shallow square legs at each corner which would allow them to crawl under anyway. I have put a thin piece of stone below the front of the hive which fills some of the front gap and acts as a bridge between the pallet slats that are parallel to the front of the hive.
I noticed that they used this as a bridge to get back into the hive after today’s inspection so hopefully this will solve the problem for now.
Cheers

Courty

 

[enrico]

The stone will do, now I know the type of hive I would put a flat piece of wood on the pallet in front of the hive to act as a large landing pad. Prop it so that they land on it and then crawl up to the entrance. I.e. can't get between the landing pad and the legs. Hope that makes sense! Sounds as though the stone might do the job though. Mesh floors have created this as a new problem. Keeps cropping up!
E