# Bearding on front of TBH



## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Naw, just adopted the Southern tradition of hanging out on the porch in the heat of the Summer.


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## DeeAnna (Nov 5, 2010)

If its hot, the bees might be bearding to cool off. Or they might be bearding less for them to cool off and more to keep the inside of the hive at the correct temperature. 

Or AR is right about the bees doing the southern tradition thing, although Iowans do the front porch thing too.  My hives have been bearding too, although less so lately, since the high temps have dropped into the 70s and low 80s, rather than 90+.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfaqs.htm#bearding

ypically beekeepers call this bearding because it often looks like the hive has a beard. Causes are heat, congestion and lack of ventilation. Make sure they have room and ventilation and don't worry about it.


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## Montana Bee (Feb 1, 2011)

Thanks for the good advice. I have 2 1in. holes (screened) on the back of the TBH. I believe they are allowing air into the hive. This hive was new this year and the bees have drawn out 27 bars out of 30 total. My entrance is 3/4 inch high and 8 in across. I have different sticks that allow me to decrease entrance size. I have left the opening wide open this summer. Montana has had its share of hot weather and unfortunately I took someones advice and put the hive in direct sunlight until the shade hits it about 5 pm. I have read where Michael suggests putting TBH in the shade. After experiencing comb collapse like so many others it just makes good sense to keep the hive in the shade. This is my first year as a beek and I have no way of knowing how many bars of honey they will need to survive winter so I planned on leaving it all and see how they do. Any other ideas on this? Advice much appreciated.


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## BoBn (Jul 7, 2008)

My bees seemed to have some sort of contest going on a couple weeks ago.
The chain on the right has about 30 bees supported by one bee leg.
She's the one with long legs.

Where do you think most of the returning foragers were landing and climbing up?









I have five 1&1/2" screened holes in the top edge of the follower board on the opposite end. It sounds like a blower running day and night.

This past week they stopped bearding with the nighttime temps in the 50s.


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## gjd (Jan 26, 2011)

I've got a 2nd year Langstroth next to a first year TBH, both with SBBs, and both seem to have a large, vigorous population, but with little excess honey production, and very slow comb building. The Langstroth rarely beards (although was bearding last year as the 2 deep bodies were building up). A month or so ago the TBH, a Chandler design but with 3 1-inch end entrance holes, started bearding constantly all night and on rainy days. Even with steady rain there's a heavy cluster outside tucked under the cover overhang, heat and humidity have no significant effect. I believe the field bees simply stay outside when they all come home. There is plenty of room inside on the sides of the cavity of at least 6 undrawn bars, although the drawn comb is constantly covered with house bees.

My suspicion is simply that the field bees prefer to rest on comb, and if it isn't available they'll sit outside rather than a large cavity far from drawn comb. I also wonder if perhaps the small entrance holes and end entrance, ok for day activity, tend to block the entrance and path to the cavity at the other end once gathering starts outside versus a long horizontal slit perpendicular to the comb.


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## LampBurner (May 4, 2011)

Yes indeed this is the front porch and front of hive of my TBH every night. They don't like the flashlight being shined on them either. 1 or 2 will go after you if you shine on them more more than a few seconds or a little longer. It's not a very good picture. This hive had ventelation holes but they blocked them off with propolis. They were already all over the outside front of the hive even before they propolized their vent holes closed.
BoBn what kind of bees do you have? The distinctive black and white stripes are promonant, quite unlike my bees that have stripes but the entire bee is darker and there is not such contrast between the stripes.


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## rwurster (Oct 30, 2010)

I had read about bearding and expected my bees to do it but they never have and we had 35 days of 100+ temps peaking at 107 in July... I thought these carniolans wouldnt like the heat but they've done fine through the summer. My ktbh is almost ready for the spring, can't wait to get some bees in it so i'll have some around when the other hives get migrated to the watermellon patch.


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## forgeblast (Feb 4, 2011)

my warre hive bees have been doing this too. Its been hot and humid.


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## gjd (Jan 26, 2011)

An update on my previous reply-- my TBH is still bearding constantly, with temperatures in the low-mid 60s and rain for 3 days (they collect under the overhang of cover and legs). I'd guess half the hive is outside most times-- I presume the field bees stay outside when home. It's not temperature, at least not for them. I've got the bottom mostly closed for an Apiguard tray. The inside of the hive is at most 10 degrees F warmer than outside, and at least 10 degrees below an adjacent Langstroth that is not bearding at all. I'd guess that because the TBH doesn't seem to allow control of hive climate half as well as a Langstroth (I monitor temp and humidity in both, and really, it doesn't), they figure they can just as easily sit outside. I'm increasingly viewing it as an indication they don't like the horizontal hive-- not this one, anyway.


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## Beethinking (Jun 2, 2008)

How full is the hive? What kind of entrance(s)?


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## Bush_84 (Jan 9, 2011)

Do you have some ventilation configured in your hive?


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## BoBn (Jul 7, 2008)

I have a solid bottom on mine, I put four 1&1/2" screened vent holes near the upper edge of my follower board. There is a strong air flow (generated by the bees) through these vent holes. I still get some bearding. This time of year there are often a lot of displaced nurse bees hanging around. In a Langstroth, a lot of them hang out between the inner and outer covers. Bee trees also often have a lot of bearding this time of year.

A slatted rack just inside the hive entrance will greatly reduce bearding. 

Bob


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## gjd (Jan 26, 2011)

Stealing the thread here, but my ventilation is 3 1" end entrance holes, several bars with 3/8" screened slots on the underside leading off to the side, and a few days ago I started a rear entrance during drone expulsion by leaving a bar out and covering the gap above and one side (so 1.5x.75" to the top side). They like the new rear entrance on busy days, but none of it makes a lot of difference for temps or inside humidity that I can measure. I think there just isn't any way to get much air flow going through the hive lengthwise with the bottom closed. There is a cavity 6-8 bars wide inside that they've had for months without building comb in, and they don't seem to like to collect there. I have a shady spot, a few hours of mid-day direct sun only. And nothing seems to affect bearding, it's much more than a Langstroth 15 feet away. I have some other issues, like varroa (in both). I'm getting the opinion that there are several aspects of TBHs that make them more delicate and variable than conventional hives based on climate and local site, with ventilation at the top of the list. It's a beginner's opinion, but maybe that also frees me from preconceptions. Greg


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Ventilation is more complicated than it first appears. Huber tried adding an entrance and it DECREASED ventilation:

"Fourth Experiment. Same as Third, But Two Can-dles.
I wished to see whether my ventilator would provide enough air for two lighted candles. They burnt for 15 minutes and then went out together. In another test where the mill had not been started they burned for 3 minutes only.

"Fifth Experiment. Increase in Number of Open-ings Decreased Actual Ventilation.
We tried increasing the number of openings in the side of the box, but were not successful. One of the two candles went out at the end of 8 minutes. The other kept alight as long as the ventilator was in motion. I had therefore not obtained a stronger current by multiplying the openings.

"These experiments show that in a place with an opening only on one side, air can renew itself when there is some mechanical cause tending to displace it, and this seems to confirm our conjectures on the effect which the fanning of bees has on the hive."--Huber's Observations on Bees Volume II Chapter 8, C.P. Dadant Translation.


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## Calvin King (Oct 5, 2011)

I have my first hive which is a top bar. It has been doing well, however, the last three or four weeks there are a lot of bees hanging out on the outside of the hive especially on the screened bottom. there are more at night than in the day time still there seem to be several hundred that hang out all day. I would certainly like to know why. Two suggestions come to mind. One I was told that Africanized bees will do this as a was to take over a hive. Second, I was told that if the hive is heavily infested with SHB this will cause nursing bees to have nothing to nurse thus be unemployed. They are not bearding. They don't seem to be fanning. They seem to be doning nothing. Does anyone have thoughts on this?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Bearding is what bee do when they are hot or overcrowded.
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfaqs.htm#bearding


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