bubbling over bees?

[praha]

Hi all,
I inspected last week, all went well, but saw some strange behaviour, and wondered if anyone could explain why I saw what I saw.

I have one really productive hive, but noticed that they had gone through supersedure, one opened queen cell in middle of top brood box. Spotted brood, no HM, so figured all ok, and was about to pop super back on top, when all of the bees in the super seemed to roll over the top, a bit like milk does when boiled. I brushed them back, and they were calm, but am curious as to why they did what they did.

Thanks!

 

[beeno]

Hi praha,
Could be a sign of early aggression or they may need more room.

 

[enrico]

I call it boiling, it usually comes with a startled hive where they didn't expect you to take the roof off but this sounds different. If it was when you were replacing the super maybe they got a few vibes from the brood box as you put it back on! At least they were calm!
E

 

[Swarm]

As above, only time I've seen this behaviour was cracking the crown board. They boiled over and began to sting immediately. I should add that they were gentle bees before and after this one occasion.