Page 27 - Vol.38-No.6

BEES & BEEKEEPING

THE BASICS OF BEE BEARDING: WHAT IT IS,

WHY IT HAPPENS, AND WHAT TO LOOK FOR

from the bottom board, or even cluster What does bee bearding
around the entrance.” look like?
Why do bees beard? Bee bearding typically looks like a cluster
of bees gathered around the outside of a
hive, sometimes even forming what looks
like a beard at the bottom of the hive en-
trance. When bees are bearding, you will
also see them “fanning” their wings in an
effort to cool down the temperature of
the hive and increase ventilation.
Beekeeping in the Summer Should you try to prevent

Summer is often a favorite time for bee- bee bearding?
keepers and people who host beehives. Bee bearding is a completely normal
During this time and in most areas, bee- behavior and should not be prevented if
keepers will begin to harvest honey and seen! Instead, let the bees continue cooling
gather valuable learnings from the hive down their hive–Emily O’Neil recommends
in order to make sound observations for Bees beard on the front of their hives to adding another box to the hive or remov-
the rest of the season. Bees are incredibly manage the temperature and other interior ing the entrance reducer to help increase
self-sufficient creatures, and during these conditions of the hive. ventilation. However, it is crucial that you
warm and humid summer months, you may “There are several conditions that lead to first determine if the bees are bearding or
witness bees clung to the exterior of a hive bearding such as high temperatures, high if they are swarming.
in a behavior called bearding. humidity, over-crowding (high population Bee Bearding vs. Bee
How does heat affect of bees), poor ventilation and/or a com- Swarming
honey bees? bination of these factors. The bees form
beards in an effort to keep the brood nest
from becoming overheated.
If too many bee bodies are covering
the brood on a hot day, fanning may not
be sufficient to keep the brood cool. By
hanging around on the outside instead of
the inside, they decrease the heat load,
decrease congestion, and increase the
ventilation space, allowing for fanning to
help cool the hive.”
Emily also notes that bearding can be a
Bee bearding is one of the many nor- signal to beekeepers that the hive needs
mal bee behaviors designed to regulate more space, such as another box or removal A bee swarm hangs from a tree branch,
the conditions of the hive. of filled frames for empty ones. no hive in sight.
“In the summer, the external tempera- Bee bearding and swarming may ap-
ture outside a hive has many effects on the Bee bearding and Nectar pear very similar, as they are both large
internal environment of a hive. Temperature Dearth groups of bees clustered together, but the
and humidity regulation is extremely im- While bee bearding can be a sign of two behaviors have different meanings.
portant in the colony’s internal environment temperature control by bees, it can also According to Emily O’Neil, the main way
as successful/healthy brood rearing and be closely related to a shortage of nec- to distinguish bearding and swarming is
effective honey evaporation require certain tar-producing flowers, called nectar dearth. the location of the cluster: If the cluster
levels of humidity and temperature. For According to HoneyBeeSuite.com, bees is located in front of the hive, then those
healthy brood development, the internal come and go from their hives at an ex- bees are bearding.
temperature of a hive must be kept be- traordinary rate, but during a dearth on a Emily also notes that you can tell that a
tween 90-97 degrees Fahrenheit.” hot summer day, a beard is likely to form. certain behavior is not a bee swarm by ob-
What is bee bearding? “Bearding refers to This is because there is nothing outside serving the amount of activity from the bees
the behavior of bees when they are assem- the hive to collect, leading to an increase at the front of the hive entrance. If there is
bled on the outside of the hive during hot in the hive temperature and causing the a large cloud of bees flying around the hives,
and humid weather. These bees may cling bees to collect on the outside of it. that is a swarm that is preparing to go outside
to the outside of the brood boxes, hang of its original hive and to a new location.

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