Bees under mesh floor ?

[Tonych224]

Hive is reduced down to just the BB 14x12 some brood in all stages not a lot plenty of stores with 2 frames left to be filled.

Problem is I cannot get inspection board under the mesh floor as a clump of bees is covering the underside of the mesh floor almost motionless, Queen is inside the hive merrily walking over the frames.. I removed them last week and dumped them in the top before closing up... They are back under the floor again this week - any ideas what are they up to and can I stop them ??

 

[VEG]

Put them back into the hive and leave the varroa floor in for a week or two.


Craig

 

[beeno]

Hi Tony,
A common problem is that bees returning to the hive undershoots the landing board and end up on the mesh floor underneath. As they can smell the queen's pheromones from there they can get stuck for some time which is not so good in cold weather! Scoop them up again and then block the gap at the front of the hive to see if that helps. Any old thing will do piece of board or a carrier bag! Good luck.

 

[itma]

Do you have a landing board?
Excellent things for the bees and for your viewing them.
Perhaps a little more fuss if you are into migratory beekeeping ...


If the hive is up on legs, you might (even with a sheet of cardboard) block off between the front legs temporarily so they learn not to 'undershoot' on approach.


One nagging suspicion to clear up though.
Having reduced the hive volume by removing supers, have you left the bees enough space with just the BB? If it is a strong colony, they might simply be overcrowded.
In which case, giving them another box, even temporarily would be called for -- and that is even if you have no intention of keeping any of the honey for yourself...

 

[oliver90owner]

Reduced from what?

Seems unlikely there were 5 supers on it if there are empty combs on the brood box, but we will not know unless you tell us.

Also what size entrance do you have and are you treating them with anything.

Would not want to jump to unjustified conclusions.

RAB

 

[charlievictorbravo]

Could it be Silent Robbing?

I've seen reports of similar behaviour where the robbing bees beg for food through the Open Mesh Floor. Placing the monitoring board in position under the floor for a few days should sort this out, if it is silent robbing.

CVB

 

[REDWOOD]

I'am not sure if I get all this landing board thing, I fitted them on this year after everyone telling me you need them but they don't land on the board but fly straight in and out but did see a few wasps on them

 

[abm]

Interesting tips' thanks

 

[sharonh]

Interesting tips' thanks

I had a small swarm which ended up under the open mesh floor like that. They are now in a poly nuc, and doing great. . I decided to put wind break fabric around stand to stop any bees under shooting hives. I wouldn't have even known they were there, only that I had the varroa tray in & was checking it .I just used thumb tacks io hold the wind break fabric in place, works great & still allows air circulation. Any garden centre would have it.

 

[Tonych224]

Reduced from what?

Seems unlikely there were 5 supers on it if there are empty combs on the brood box, but we will not know unless you tell us.

Also what size entrance do you have and are you treating them with anything.

Would not want to jump to unjustified conclusions.

RAB

No I reduced from 1 super, next to no bees left in it so took it off, there is no treatment going on but I am keen to start a varroa treatment, hence how I noticed.

Entrance was reduced to 2 bee spaces as were getting attacked by wasps, I have now reopened to standard winter entrance which is about 30mm.

I do have a landing board on the stand.

Planning on brushing them into a dust pan then dumping them back in again, this time leaving the board in to see if it helps.

 

[oliver90owner]

I would conclude that it was the severely reduced entrance that caused their problem, if it was not occurring before you did that. There is usually a simple reason.

A 14 x 12 should not need such a constricted entrance if there is a good sized colony in there. Your clump of bees would be adding to the defenders, should wasps get past the guards.