Honey Bees Bearding - II
the 'beard' is slowly dissipating - might be the newly added space
BEARDING
- WHAT ARE THEY DOING?
It's called bearding, as the bees
seem to form a fuzzy beard on the hive and hang out in a cluster. Almost all of
the time this is totally normal, and even a good sign. You will see this in
strong colonies as the population is at its height and as the bees are storing
and ripening honey at a blinding pace. To keep the honey at correct temperature
and allow for airflow in the hive, a small to large number of adult bees will
hang out in the front, helping the internal temperature to stay cool. You might
even see some fanning of their wings, pushing air into the hive on the hottest
days.
Bearding is often a totally healthy
sign of a colony working at its peak. It can be a sign of a strong colony with
a large population, all in service to their single purpose: overwintering
successfully with enough honey stores to survive. Each hive is different and
not every hive will display the same amount of bearding. For instance, we have
4 hives in our backyard with colonies all installed this past spring, and no
two are alike at this point in the season. Two show significant bearding,
one a bit of bearding, and another, none at all. Things to bear in mind when
witnessing this are: genetics and overall health of individual hives, how long
the colonies have been hived, and how much room they have to keep storing food
supplies.
SHOULD
YOU WORRY ABOUT BEARDING?
The first thing you want to ask
yourself when you see bearding is: do my bees have enough room? That is,
depending on your hive type, do they have enough space to keep building and
filling comb in the form of a honey super or box, or more empty bars to build
comb upon. Likely you will know the answer already due to regular monitoring,
but if you don't, you will want to make sure your bees have room to expand and
keep storing.
Another aspect to consider regarding
space is: have your bees been throwing swarms? If the answer is yes, they are
likely out of room and have been out of room. Their productivity and ability to
create enough stores for themselves is being thwarted by a lack of room for
expansion. In both cases, give them more space.
In the case of a horizontal top bar
hive, harvesting is often required to provide your colony more space. If the
hive is filled from end to end with comb, it's the only way (other than
splitting) to give them room. Don't be scared to do this!
(If you have a top bar hive and know
your bees still have space to build comb and store honey but they are continually
throwing stores, your bees could be honey bound. For more on honey bound top
bar hives, look for an upcoming post, or shoot us an e-mail/call!)
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