Bees in roofspace. North east England

Beekeeping - Basics
1

Well my first harvest is over, and following advice, today I removed the empty flow frames and had a good look at the bees etc. Now, however, the bees are moving up into the roofspace of the hive above the crown board. Should I be worried? or is this normal?

2

It would be incredibly helpful if you could complete your profile page on your account, so that we can know where in the world you are. The reason is that that explaining what you are seeing is very dependent on the climate that your bees are living in.

If you are Australia, they may be short of space and looking for more room.

If you are in the northern hemisphere, the hive may have flooded from the harvest, and the bees were running away.

Have you covered the hole in the inner cover/crown board? If not, the bees in the roof may be robbers trying to steal the excess honey.

We don’t really have information to answer your questions. Any photos, further info and completion of you profile would help immensely. :blush:

3

Ahhh yeah I must do that. I’m in North east England. In answer to your questions, There was no flooding, just a small dribble from a couple of frames. I forgot to cover the hole in the crown board (aaaargh). I say quite few bees coming up through so I was wondering if maybe it was just the reduced space? I’ll be putting food in the roof soon so is it ok just to tip the tennants back in or do i need to do something more drastic?

4

I would shake them back in, but also be sure to take the Flow super off for winter. :blush:

5

yup, done that :slight_smile: thanks for helping this slightly paranoid beginner :slight_smile:

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6

you can staple some screen mesh over that hole- or cover it with a piece of wood or a tile if you want to keep bees out of the roof.

7

In England especially the north east I would not ventilate the hive at the top at all. If you need to feed then put a 2 litre rapid feeder inside a regular super or use larger one that goes on top of the whole box. The bees shouldn’t have access to the roof at all. Also if you haven’t weather proofed the roof it might be a good idea before winter rains get to it.

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