Bees under the hive?

[rileyman]

Hi,
I received my first nuc yesterday, and this morning transfered them to the hive. All seems ok and they are feeding well. However ....
When I had a quick look this evening I noticed quite a few bees under the hive clinging to the mesh floor. I would say about a cup full in size.

Is this normal behaviour - or should I be worried about it?. My worst fear is that during the transfer, the queen got out and is now under the hive.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Roger

 

[Ian123]

Well it’s always possible that Queen slipped out when you transfered. Did you find her on frames when you moved them over

 

[Millet]

Hi,
I received my first nuc yesterday, and this morning transfered them to the hive. All seems ok and they are feeding well. However ....
When I had a quick look this evening I noticed quite a few bees under the hive clinging to the mesh floor. I would say about a cup full in size.

Is this normal behaviour - or should I be worried about it?. My worst fear is that during the transfer, the queen got out and is now under the hive.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Roger

It's normal the new bees can smell the hive but unsure how to get in so you will get stragglers, open mesh floors are good but not on this occasion, the weather is nice and warm so they will be fine and work it out tomorrow..Stick the inspection tray in when they have cleared it will stop it happening again..... then pull it back out when they are more organized..

 

[enrico]

It is normal but a nuisance. They are probably flying towards the entrance and missing by flying underneath. They don't understand why they can't get in. Brush them off and pop them at the entrance and then cover the area between the landing board and the ground at the front of the hive with a piece of wood. In colder weather you can lose many bees like this because they die of cold. They think they are in the hive but can't get through the floor. Also, as stated, check for a queen just in case!
E

 

[rileyman]

Thanks for your replies.
It would appear the problem is sorting itself out. I popped a board between the ground and the landing board and they immediately started flying straight into the hive, rather than underneath.
A quick check this evening has shown that there only about 50 bees left underneath and definately no queen!
I will now just leave it and let the remainder sort themselves out.
Cheers,
Roger

 

[Beefriendly]

A quick check this evening has shown that there only about 50 bees left underneath
r[/QUOTE

Gareth Southgate wouldn't have left 50 bees outside overnight, He would have carried them inside bee by bee

 

[itsbruce]

There are a small number of bees under my hive most days. I realised it's because the landing board is slightly skew-wiff from the rest of the stand, so that there's a gap at one end of the board between it and the hive floor. Every so often, a bee lands and heads down instead of in.

It's no big problem for me - after a while of wandering around on the underside of the mesh, they either head back the way they came or exit by the side and they seem to find their way home the next time. But I'll fix the stand the next time I have an opportunity to do some maintenance.

Inherited this hive and stand from a mate who was emigrating. Some of his carpentry has turned out to be a little off.

 

[enrico]

It's no real problem in this weather. It's on cold nights when they can't keep warm that the problems start to increase.
E