Bearding or Swarming?
We have had immense pleasure from our bees over these last months and have once again had a huge learning curve. In March, as instructed we took out the extra insulation we had added to keep them warm over the winter and we did a hive inspection to check all was well. Our colony was thriving with plenty of brood, frames full of honey and we could see how the numbers had increased. Therefore we extended their space with a couple of extra frames leaving frames of honey in place to feed the now huge colony. Spring wasn’t in full swing yet and we were unsure if there was enough pollen about. We also took one frame with us to learn how to extract and filter the honey, oh what sticky yummy times 🐝 😊
As I crossed the meadow one very hot day in May, I noticed what I can only describe as a large bunch of bees hanging off each other and the hive. I hadn’t seen this behaviour before and I feared our bees were about to swarm and that we may lose them.
I sought advice and we did a bee inspection to check that we still had our queen. We were cross eyed 😵 at scanning frame after frame of thousands of bees, but we couldn’t find Esmarelda anywhere. We had taken a shot of every frame and spent an entire evening pouring over these trying to spot the shiny green dot that marks her out as a 2019 Queen. After further discussion and taking into account of how huge the colony now was with we decided to split the colony and move half into another hive. Both had food, brood and empty frames and It was time to back off and leave them to it. Over the next couple of weeks we noticed that the original hive had its usual steady buzz and the foragers were out and about bringing back pollen for England. The second hive, while busy, seemed quite sedate and without the comings and goings of foragers. It was time for another inspection to try to discover what was going on. Once again we were unable to locate the queen in the original hive, however we knew all was well as there was new larvae nestled in the comb so we knew the queen was alive and doing her thing. Go Queen bee. We were doubly delighted to find a big fat peanut shaped cell in the second hive!! Oh you clever clever bees, a new queen in the making. By feeding one little larvae on royal jelly and other particular ingredients a new Queen is formed. This is very cool.
Yesterday as I wandered by the bee garden, I noticed the same thing happening, bunches of bees, one hanging from the next in big heavy clumps. I noted it was the same kind of hot day as the time before and remembered that the queen and her bees hadn’t left. After a little research I learned that this clumping behaviour is called ‘bearding’ and happens when the hive is too hot. Tons of bees get out of the hive to allow the fanning of other bees wings to more affectively cool the brood. The collaborative bees just hang around on the outside of the hive until later in the day when the temperature drops a little all for the good of the hive. This tends to happen mid to late summer while swarming more often happens in spring. I now know that there is a vast difference between swarming and bearding, which can look so similar but are about very different needs of the hive.
I have learned all over again that if I pay attention, watch, be curious and listen to what the bees are saying they will show me what they need and that the needs of the colony are greater than any individual bee.
