# Bees Behavior at Night (Swarming?)



## NWBees

Hi all,

I would like to preface this by giving you guys a little back story on our hive to make any advice or observations easier. Our hive was starter around mid May this year (2015) and around mid/late June the bees had filled 2 deep brooding boxes so we added on a medium super. We added the super less than a week ago and haven't seen their progress inside since then (we were told to check the hive about once per week). Now in the following images this is something I noticed because I was curious to see how the bees behaved nocturnally. I noticed them bunching up at the entrance in a thick bundle, nearly 2 inches wide. Now I don't know if this is swarming behavior or if this is just what bees like to do at night to keep cool (currently 70 degrees F at 2:30am). I checked on them tonight around 2am as well and they were doing a similar thing. If anybody has any advice to offer on whether this is normal bee behavior of these are potential warning signs for swarming I'd love to hear back. My thought process is that since they should still have plenty of space in their new super they wouldn't need to swarm at the entrance. Should we put a new super on top that we have built and ready to go? Thank you for any replies!

























Best,
Aiden


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## B52EW

Looks like normal bearding to regulate hive temp. Sounds like your bees are building well.


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## NWBees

Excellent I'm glad to hear it, thank you for your informative response!


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## allniter

if they start to beard more ---U can put a small board under outer cover to get more air going through the hive


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## Tenbears

If the hive is strong, and you are using a telescoping cover, Lip the cover! place the front or back edge on the edge of the inner cover. The bees a can defend the area easily and it gives them ventilation. The bearding will stop or be reduced. Also humidity has as much to do with bearding as temperature. Sounds as though you have a healthy happy hive,


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## BeeMoose

Almost all of my hives do this to some extent almost every evening. 

You can also take popsicle sticks, or something similar and put them under the inner cover to assist with ventilation.

From your pictures it is nothing to be concerned about at this point. I have seen the entire front of two double deeps covered in them before.


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## Dan P

Im only a couple years into this. But I would say its normal and its probably due to moisture. You always have to keep in consideration of your area. Bees act differently based on there climate conditions.


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## DirtyLittleSecret

A Vivaldi board also can help them regulate moisture/temperature fluctuations as well. We finally broke down and just made them a part of our standard setup around here. It's amazing how active they are at night.


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## allniter

A Vivaldi board also can help them regulate moisture/temperature fluctuations as well. We finally broke down and just made them a part of our standard setup around here. It's amazing how active they are at night. 

can U explain a VIVALDI BOARD --MAYBE PUT A PICTURE ON HERE ---THANKS


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## dynemd




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## Michael Bush

A hive that doesn't have bees on the outside at night this time of year is probably a weak hive...

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


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