Hi I came home today to find my bees bearding very strangely on my hive. As you can see from the photos some bees are joining/hanging at the bottom of the hive in a very strange way.
Has anyone seen this before and know what they are up to? Is this normal behaviour? Is it a Pre swarm behaviour?
Underneath they are festooning. It’s how they arrange themselves when they make comb. I doubt they are doing that though…just hanging out 
As @Dee says, most likely is bearding - they are probably hot. Notice how they are gathering on shaded surfaces of the hive. I would make sure you white plastic core flute slider is in place. It helps them to ventilate the hive on warmer days if it is in the slot.
It doesn’t look like enough bees for pre swarm, going by the two here that recently swarmed.
