Hi guys. I want to ask you about my bees behaviour. Why are the bees are doing this in front of their hive entrance? I’m a beginner so there’s a lot i don’t understand. Hope you can help me with this. Thank you
Hi @Lukiarto, have you had a sudden change in weather. This can happen when a cold snap or rain comes through. As soon as the weather warms up again they will be gone.
well i don’t think so. the place where i put the hives always have the same weather. is it the same as the signs of swarming?
Nope, bees on the outside of the hive is commonly confused with swarming. Your bees look to be clustering for warmth. If you are worried about swarming, open the hive and check for queen cells as a start.
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That is not a sign of swarming, what you see is fairly common and can be the result of a change in temperature caused by too many bees inside the hive so some go outside so the brood can cool. It can also be from a change of outside ambient temperature of only a few degrees.
You have nothing to worry about from the photo. I suggest you go to the magnifying glass on the top right of your screen and type in “bearding” which again is NOT swarming.
Regards
should i add another box above it?
Hi @Lukiarto - nice ant traps you have there, or what I assume to be ant traps where the legs of your hive stand are sitting.
Peter is right, your bees are just bearding as a way to regulate temperature.
About adding a second box - are your frames 80% full of comb, stores, brood & bees? If so, I’d guess in your area you could add a honey super, but try to check with a local beekeeper who knows your seasonal nectar fluctuations if there are any.
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I can’t say if you should add a super as the photo only shows the brood box entrance. I would ask what your local bee keepers do in their setting up of a hive. I would think a single full depth brood box with a metal QX and a single full depth super might be a good for your area, but check with others in your location.
There is a lot to consider in adding a super, is there already a super on the brood? If there is you might want to extract some of the frames if all the frames are capped with honey. There should always be room for the bees to continue with expanding in bee numbers and stores… Bees need to live in a compact area so before you go adding a super you first need to know it is needed. Don’t over react to bees hanging out at the entrance as your decision maker.
Regards
Hi @Lukiarto, what’s the situation inside the brood box? Do you have a good coverage of bees across all frames? Do you have a healthy amount of brood across 70-80% of your frames and a band of honey (capped & uncapped) across the top of those frames? Have your bees built any comb with honey in the lid? Is there much in flower producing nectar where your bees are and in the vicinity? If so, then put a super on top. Its not an exact science but these are all factors to assist you in deciding what to do next.
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No, not until you read all the answers and understand them. Bearding is bees hanging about the entrance, swarming is when most of the bees are taking flight about the hive all at the same time then all fly off in a direction together.
Regards
Hi everyone, I took this video this afternoon of the girls working on the entry board. I would be interested in your thoughts on what you think they are doing.
I’m thinking they are propolising the gap at the bottom to improve the effectiveness of their airflow efforts. This is, of course, a Flow Hive v1.
I see washboarding going on. Warm day too, i see nothing out of the ordinary. I’ve not heard of bees closing a large entrance.
Yup I see washboarding, a normal activity for well-populated colonies. I’d think it would take forever to actually propolize gals that large, but would not rule out the possibility that the bees clustered over the entrance could be a way they purposely restrict & control airflow 
Come on guys, I was talking of the gap between the bottom board and the brood box… Not the entrance 
Ha, well your title ‘Bees working hive entrance’ kinda threw us i guess…
The area you’re talking about is below the coreflute slider?
As far as I know the gap between the bottom board & the brood box IS the entrance. I have seen bees propolizing a large entrance. They don’t do it at the entrance itself, they do it inside. They put a propolis barrier across the bottoms of the frames & down to the floor to keep cold draft out.
Bad grammar… I forgot the “at” or “below” as the flow hives step up to the actual hive entry. 
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Very intventive bees.
Many standard brood boxes do not have the step up that the Flow Hive has
Very inventive bees alright 
They know exactly what they want. Even though our days are still hot, because we have passed the longest day & the days are getting shorter, I’ve noticed my bees are bringing back a lot more propolis. They’re stashing it around the frame lugs & everywhere else.
I have one flow hive that was given to me. I changed the bottom board to a conventional solid floor. Plus I fixed the roof so it’s like a cross between a migratory lid & a telescoping lid. I use a hive mat instead of a crown board.
I have a colony in the flow brood box making a new queen. It’s not strong enough for a honey super.
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