Content
Any beekeeper, regardless of whether he is constantly in the apiary or is there from time to time, tries to observe his charges whenever possible. In order to determine the state of the families by the behavior of the bees and whether they need additional help. Therefore, the state when the bees get tired near the entrance cannot go unnoticed. The article attempts to understand the many reasons that can lead to a similar condition. And also recommendations are given to prevent fatigue.
How is a "beard" formed and how dangerous is its formation?
It is very unusual for a beginner beekeeper to observe even small clusters of bees on the front wall of the hive. After all, these insects must constantly be at work. And then it turns out that they sit and rest. And when their number literally increases several times in a few days, and the bees form a kind of dense formation from themselves, from the outside it really resembles a "beard" hanging from the taphole, it's time to seriously think about it.
Usually such a "beard" is formed in the hot summer season in the afternoon, late afternoon and at night, and from the early morning many bees still fly away to carry out their daily duties of collecting nectar and maintaining the hive. But in any case, this causes legitimate concern for the owner of the apiary. After all, bees lose their working rhythm, they behave not quite naturally (especially from the outside), and most importantly, the amount of produced marketable honey decreases and the beekeeper suffers losses. The condition when the bees get tired of under the boarding board indicates, first of all, about some kind of trouble inside the hive. In addition, insects outside the hive become more vulnerable and can be attacked by predators.
Finally, if the bees are actively fiddling around the litter box, this may be the main sign of a beginning swarming. And any experienced beekeeper knows that frequent swarms and large volumes of honey obtained are incompatible with each other. Either one or the other can happen. Therefore, if the beekeeper aims to profit from his bees, primarily in the form of honey, then swarming must be prevented at all costs. Among other things, the beekeeper may simply not be ready for the emergence of a new swarm (there are no suitable hives and other auxiliary materials and tools for settling the bee colony).
Why do bees hang on the hive with a "beard"
Bees can get tired near the entrance and form "beards" for various reasons.
Weather
The most common reason bees tire out is when the weather is hot. The fact is that bees warm the brood with their bodies, maintaining a constant air temperature in the immediate vicinity of the brood frames at + 32-34 ° C. If the temperature rises to + 38 ° C, the brood may die.
Such temperatures can be dangerous for the entire hive as a whole. The wax may start to melt, which means there is a real risk of breaking off the honeycomb. When the temperature rises to + 40 ° C and above, a direct threat is created for the death of the entire bee colony.
But they may not be able to cope with the task at hand. Therefore, bees, free from work, are simply forced to leave the hive and get tired outside, so that the heat from their bodies does not give additional heating in the nest.
Moreover, insects, being on the landing board, try to actively ventilate the hive with the help of their wings. At the same time, due to the additional flow of air, excess heat is removed from the hive through the upper ventilation holes.
In any case, this situation does not bring anything good, including for the beekeeper. Since bees, when they get tired, are distracted from their immediate task of obtaining pollen and nectar.
For different Russian regions, depending on their climatic and weather conditions, the timing of such a problem may differ. But most often bees begin to get tired from the end of May, and the problem may remain relevant until the end of June.
Intensive honey collection
Another no less common reason that bees build "tongues" from their bodies is the usual tightness in the hive. It can form:
- From too abundant honey collection, when the bribe was so intense that all the free cells in the combs were already filled with honey. In this case, the queen has nowhere to lay eggs, and the worker bees, accordingly, also remain without work.
- Because the hive did not have time to expand with dry land or foundation, and the expanded family managed to occupy all the free frames and the rest simply did not have enough space and (or) work in the nest.
In fact, these two reasons are usually closely related, since due to the tightness in the bee dwelling, the temperature in the hive often rises. This can be especially true at night, when all the bees are forced to gather together for the night and get tired so as not to overheat their nest.
Swarming
In general, if bees just sit in small numbers on the boarding board, this is not a cause for concern. If this happens closer to lunchtime or in the afternoon, insects can also periodically fly up over the hive, as if examining it and not moving away from it for a long distance. This is how very young bees behave, getting acquainted with the surrounding area and the location of the hive in order to start working in the coming days.
If bees gather near the entrance in large numbers or their number is inexorably growing every day, then this may already be the first sign of a beginning swarming. Other signs of swarming are:
- Excited state of bees - they often gnaw the flight board.
- Insects practically do not fly to prey nectar and pollen.
- Bees do not build honeycombs at all. The sheets of foundation placed in the nest remain completely unchanged in a few days.
- The uterus lays fresh testicles in the future queen cells.
If the beekeeper is interested in leaving the swarm to create a new bee colony, then you can try to roughly calculate its date.
If hives are not prepared for new colonies, and in general there are no suitable conditions for increasing the number of bee colonies, then it is necessary to carry out a number of measures against swarming. Although, as the experience of some beekeepers shows, it is practically pointless to fight swarming. It is better from the very beginning not to allow even the very possibility of its occurrence.
Diseases
Some novice beekeepers are so scared from the sight of how the bees stuck around the hive that they begin to suspect the worst - the presence of all kinds of diseases in their wards.
It should be understood that bees get tired of abnormal air exchange inside the hive or not quite correct and timely care for them.But diseases of any nature have nothing to do with it.
What measures should be taken when bees are bunched up on the boarding board
Since there may be several reasons for the bees clustering near the entrance, the measures taken may differ. Sometimes a few days or even hours are enough to eliminate possible problems by improving the living conditions of the bees. In other cases, it is better to use preventive measures in order to prevent the very occurrence of a problem situation.
Restoring temperature conditions
For a novice beekeeper, it is important to take a closer look at the location of the hives themselves. Due to inexperience, he could place them in direct sunlight, which, of course, can be one of the main reasons for overheating inside the nests on a hot sunny day.
If even the shadow does not save from overheating or it is impossible for any reason to place the hives in a cooler place, then you should:
- repaint the top of the hives white;
- cover them with green grass on top or use any other artificial shading;
- fix the foam sheets instead of the ceiling;
- to improve ventilation, open all available tap holes or make additional ventilation holes.
If the bees get tired on the front wall of the hive due to disturbed heat exchange, then the measures taken should rather soon have the necessary effect and normal operation is restored in the families.
Elimination of crowding of bees
The most effective way to eliminate the situation when bees are tired out due to crowding or plentiful flow is to pump out the honey.
True, sometimes placing the pumped-out frames back into the hive, on the contrary, causes the cessation of departures and the bees being pumped out under the arrival board. This can be explained by the fact that the remaining traces of honey, due to their hygroscopicity, dry out the air inside the nest. And the bees are forced to switch all their attention to humidifying the air in the hive. In order to prevent this problem from occurring, immediately after pumping out the honey, the honeycomb is sprayed with water using an ordinary sprayer and only after this procedure is it placed into the hive.
To eliminate the crampedness in the nest, any expansion will be effective:
- by installing unnecessary foundation;
- adding cases or stores with waxes.
It is best to place them from the very bottom of the hive, in order to simultaneously improve ventilation and help bees that get tired under the entrance, start immediately to rebuild the combs.
Counter-countermeasures
If the formation of additional swarms is not necessary, then a variety of counter-fighting measures should be used. In most cases, they consist in the constant workload of the bees.
- The nests are expanded by placing additional frames with foundation and stores or enclosures in them.
- Layers are made with the fetal uterus.
- Constantly monitor the ratio of open brood of different ages in relation to the sealed one. It is necessary that the first be at least half of the total.
- From the very beginning of the season, old queens are replaced with new, young ones, thereby ensuring almost 100% impossibility of swarming.
A few more "why" and answers to them
There is also a situation in a young family, when many bees not only sit on the landing board, but also move anxiously along it. This may be a sign that the uterus flew out in the daytime for mating and for some reason did not come back (died).
In this case, in other hives, it is necessary to find a mature queen cell and put it along with the frame in a disadvantaged family. Usually, after a few hours, the bees calm down, and the front wall with the arrival board becomes empty. The situation is returning to normal.
Bees get bored even during the period of theft, when, for various reasons, the bribe is not enough. In this situation, insects also do not sit (or hang) calmly, but move anxiously along the landing board and the front wall of the hive. Here the bees also need help to provide them with a supportive bribe.
Why are bees gnawing the flight board
The situation when bees sit or crawl on the landing board, gnaw it and do not enter the hive, is quite common when swarming begins.
Sometimes they gnaw not so much the landing board as the entrance hole, thereby trying to expand it and create additional conditions for ventilation.
Therefore, in such a case, it is necessary to create all of the above conditions to prevent swarming, and at the same time to create a favorable microclimate inside the hive.
Why do bees sit on the boarding board in the evening and at night?
If bees sit on the entrance at night or late in the evening, it means that, most likely, they will soon begin to swarm.
Again, another reason may be a violation of the appropriate temperature conditions inside the hive. Therefore, all the methods outlined above are quite suitable to cope with this problem.
Conclusion
Bees are tired out near the entrance, usually due to non-observance by the beekeeper of certain conditions for placing the hives and caring for their pets. This problem is not so difficult to cope with, and it is even easier to take appropriate measures so that it does not arise at all.
