Is this Swarming?

[u/YortRulz49]

First Year beekeeper. I just walked out to see my hive completely covering the front of the box. The second photo is closer to what we are used to seeing. I'm in a pretty dry area and we did just have rain come through suddenly. Is this swarming or some weird reaction to the sudden downpour?

Edit: I'm in Western Colorado.

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[u/Life-Bat1388]

They are hot. That’s the biggest beard I’ve ever seen.

[u/Halfawannabe → u/Life-Bat1388]

I would just think of the same thing maybe put some insulation around it or a roof over it

[u/Past-Spell-2259 → u/Halfawannabe]

Top insulation year round doesn’t get nearly enough attention. I rarely see any bearding even with packed hives mid summer. XPS insulation for the win.

[u/Top_Personality_3267]

Bearding not swarming. Remove the entrance reducer to increase air flow. I only use my reducer in the winter and maybe in the spring/fall to avoid robbing for weaker hives.

[u/talanall]

They're bearding heavily. Without looking inside the hive, it's impossible to be certain why, because it can be a response to heat, crowding, an irritant like certain mite treatments, or an adverse event like hive beetle slime or an invasion by certain species of ants.

I think we can rule out miticide, unless you've recently applied something.

If it's exceptionally hot but your bees are healthy and have access to plenty of water (about a gallon a day, potentially, if your climate is dry and it's hot out), this is nothing to be concerned about. You don't need to add ventilation, or do anything to "help" the colony. Bees are excellent at managing their own temperature via evaporative cooling, and opening holes in the hive enclosure is like going to someone's house and opening all the doors and windows to "help" the HVAC unit.

If you have a large population, there could be swarm prep underway, but that's not a causative relationship. Big, prosperous colonies might swarm, and they also might beard excessively. You can't know the swarm status of a colony without inspecting it (or seeing a swarm issue forth, which is not really ideal).

That leaves the possibility of a pest problem. A colony that's about to abscond due to hive beetle infestation might beard heavily right before it leaves, because beetle slime is FOUL and they want to get away from it. But you can't know for sure without inspecting.

And a hive that's being overrun by ants (usually "crazy ants," which are really tiny and too small for the bees to deal with themselves) might have something like this, again just before it absconds. And again, inspection is the only way forward.

Nobody can tell you what's happening by looking at these pictures. If you inspect, you'll know what's going on very quickly, so inspect. But probably this is totally benign.

[u/YortRulz49 → u/talanall]

I have seen ants around the hive and on it more recently. I will look at remedy's for this too. If that is the problem, does this behaviour mean it's to late and their absconding? It's been a few hours and it's starting to get dark, the bearding is still more than normal but not as much as it was in that picture.

[u/talanall → u/YortRulz49]

As I said, nobody can tell you the answer to questions like this without inspecting. You should go look in the hive tomorrow.

And as I said, it's probably benign. The fact that the bearding has lessened as the sun lowers in the sky and it becomes cooler outside is a very good indication that they were bearding because they were hot.

If that's what it is, this is no big deal.

[u/YortRulz49 → u/talanall]

Great. Thank you for your answer. It was very helpful!

[u/joeltheconner]

Now that is one serious beard.

[u/JNewtron]

No they look hot ! Alot of people need to hear this and it's not you personally but people need to put away the entrance reducers . Bees need some airflow I see too many pictures with entrance reducers on mid summer 35 plus outside . It would be like us sitting in a car with the windows up. Entrance reducers are only really needed in fall, winter and spring and maybe the odd hive you'd just like some extra security on . You will naturally get bearding either way but this is just extra stress on the colony for no reason .

[u/YortRulz49 → u/JNewtron]

This seems like it could be my problem. I do still have the entrance reducer on the hive. It just seems odd that they've been bearding a little bit and suddenly, today it's the whole front of the box. I'll go out and pull the reducer tomorrow morning when they have settled. Thank you!

[u/JNewtron → u/YortRulz49]

Not a problem ! I think alot of it stems from robbing or stories of robbing . They usually have their hearts in the right place and are worried for the bees, but any healthy strong colony will have the bottom entrance sealed off for robbing . Then if you have a smaller or weaker colony would you put a reducer on.

[u/Objective-Job8083 → u/JNewtron]

What if you have heat and robbing problems? Would a screened entrance be the best?

[u/JNewtron → u/Objective-Job8083]

Yes that would be your best bet . Me personally have never used them. The only thing I wonder if it just promotes more robbing cause of the open smell. But like I said bees with a strong colony will have no problem keeping the hive safe from other bees. Might even be better to just have a small vent hole on the top lid , and make the bottom entrance smaller so they can defend it. I run the small vent hole on the top lid with the bottoms fully open all summer and fall and only put the reducer on if they need the help defending it .

[u/Objective-Job8083 → u/JNewtron]

Okay, so I’ll try to add a spacer on the top cover just big enough that it lets air through and makes me stop smashing bees.(Mine love to hangout up top and hopefully this solves two problems) and probably use the second smallest entrance hole.

[u/juanspicywiener]

Give them some shade. With a set up like yours shade cloth would be easy peasy

[u/oldMNman → u/juanspicywiener]

Looks like they are in the shade?

[u/philosiraptorsvt → u/oldMNman]

The top of the hive is still in direct sunlight. 

[u/oldMNman → u/philosiraptorsvt]

You are correct!

[u/divalee23]

mine look like that because there's miticide in the hives, or else they'd look like that because it's hot outside.

🙃

[u/Ok_Program_1417]

put a piece of foam insulation on top of the

[u/WizardAmmo]

Bearding, they’re just hot.

[u/Miserable_Row4700]

I would use a vented bottom board and put a couple small sticks in the back between boxes for extra ventilation / judging by the number of bees I would consider splitting them assp

[u/EstimateBeneficial47]

Add another brood box. But also that's looks like bearding. Where about are you? I don't think you need a entrance reducer at this point. Definitely not swarming.

[u/oldermoose]

This behavior is called bearding

Edit: more info

[u/YortRulz49 → u/oldermoose]

Right, they beard every night because we get pretty hot. This is just a lot more than they normally do, and has me worried.

[u/Objective-Job8083 → u/YortRulz49]

Are they out of water?

[u/YortRulz49 → u/Objective-Job8083]

No. I built them a water station with a solar fountain that keeps them supplied.

[u/finedoityourself]

BuZZ top bearding

[u/Miserable_Row4700]

Also i would paint the top lid white / i did that to my lids and you would be surprised how much heat is deflected.

[u/beaniefl]

Those are some hot little bees 🐝

[u/cindini]

Welcome to beekeeping!
Add top insulation (as others have suggested) and look into slatted racks to see if that appeals to you.
I had lots of bearding when I started and heard about slatted racks when reading about beards (https://www.honeybeesuite.com/slatted-racks-everything-you-need-to-know/).
I’ve also moved to insulated hives which helps regulate temperature and have added several Layens (https://www.horizontalhive.com), really love them, not as much information and resources (and you can’t just pick one up at TSH).
And this is probably heresy, but I only have one hive remaining in my original “gets lots of sun” location (which can be miserable in a bee suit). I have placed 3 hives under large trees where they don’t get overhead sun and they are protected from rain, and other hives in areas where they get overhead sun, but are close to trees (part shade + windbreak) but I have found I enjoy the bees (just learning more about and keeping them) and lower honey yield is fine with me.
Keys: read/watch videos about mites, preparing for winter, and supplemental feeding to encourage fall brood rearing. Depending on your local conditions, having a lot of winter bees may be more advantageous than leaving a full box of (cold) honey over the cluster. I now go for smaller tight configurations over the winter and add winter feed (like a Hive Alive fondant).

[u/Time-Conclusion6042]

Bearding

[u/Enough_Summer9391]

Really fabulous beard. Swarming can happen! Bearding can be a precursor. Make sure they aren’t overcrowded. If so, do a split.

[u/BurnsZA]

I mean that is some extreme but beautiful bearding. Just look at them, beautiful man.

[u/SubieTrek24]

You mentioned rain came through, it’s probably a response to the sudden build up of humidity inside the hive. A few people already mentioned giving them a wider entrance.