Bearding Bees: What Beekeepers Should Know
Bearding is the term used for a group of honey bees clustering around their hive entrance. When a group of bees cluster together, the bees will form “beards” which hang down the front of the hive and off of the landing board or entrance of the hive. When honeybees are doing this, it resembles a thick and full beard and this is where the term comes from. Just like in real life, some beards are fuller than others. But in beekeeping, we call them all beards, even if they are more like a goatee.
The bottom line, bearded bees should not be a major concern for beekeepers, but it is important to understand what’s going on and what beekeepers should and should not do.
I’m going to pause for a second and tell you what we are not talking about. Have you ever seen those pictures of people with bees hanging off of their face. You know, the ones with the “I’m doing this, but I don’t like it” face? That is called a “Bee Beard”, which is when bees beard on a persons face. That’s not the type of beard we are talking about. We can’t offer that type of help.
Bearding Vs Swarming
Bearding may be confused with bees swarming but they are different behaviors which can be distinguished by beekeepers. When honey bees are preparing to swarm, they will often hang from the very top of the hive where the telescoping cover is.
When bees are bearding, it is typically going to be from the bottom board or landing board when the weather is hot. They will then form a cluster of bees hanging nearby, usually in a tree, but not right at the hive entrance or off the front of the hive like you’ll see with bearding bees. More on swarming here.
Is Bearding The Same As Washboarding?
One other strange behavior you may notice when you see bees hanging outside the hive is known as washboarding. Often seen during the summer when bees are bearding, washboarding refers to a peculiar bee behavior where adult bees will line up on the outside walls, usually near the front of the hive or right on the hive front porch, and then proceed to rock back and forth and sometimes appear to lick the surface outside the hive.
As of yet, no one knows for certain why they do this although many theories do exist. Some think it’s just bees hanging out while others think it may be the bees are leaving behind chemical signals of some kind. Figure it out once and for all and you may go down in bee history.
Why Do Honey Bees Beard?
Bearding occurs mostly in hot and humid weather, although it can also be a sign there’s not enough space in a hive. The main purpose behind bee bearding is to regulate the internal temperature and humidity and it’s usually a sign of nothing more than a hot hive.
You may also notice bearding when treating your bees with certain mite treatments. In fact many of the directions on the packaging for mite treatments mention bearding activity.
When hive temperature peaks on a hot summer day, honey bees will adjust accordingly. The cluster of bees inside the hive brood box expands to keep the hive cool and the brood at a consistent temperature. The bees will then start pushing air throughout the hive and fanning at the entrance.
With the goal of minimizing the number of bees inside the brood nest to maintain a consistent temperature, any worker bees not necessary for nursing the brood or tending to queen bees are often found outside of the hive hanging in these bee beard clusters.
When we teach classes about beekeeping, we give the analogy about how to cool a crowded room down. If a room is full of people and getting too hot, the easiest way to cool it down quickly is for half the people in the room to leave. This is essentially what honey bees are doing when they beard.
Why Do I See Bees Bearding Outside My HIve At Night?
When the foraging adult bees return to the hive for the evening, it doesn’t make sense for them to stay in the hive with very little ventilation compared to the open air outside. Instead, these bees hang outside the hive and presumably exchange banter and tales from their foraging that day.
It’s at night when it is very hot and humid that you will see very large bee beards. This is especially true after a beekeeper has harvested and the population is very high.
This isn’t a problem until you decide to move the hive from one area to another during the evening. When bees are bearding, it can be tough to get them to go inside to move the hive.
Is Bee Bearding Behavior Normal?
No need to fear, bearding is totally normal behavior for a healthy colony of honey bees. Honey bees have no problem surviving outside of the hive and it’s often a sign of a strong colony to see some degree of bearding on the landing board from early summer until the heat breaks in the fall.
This doesn’t mean all hives will be the same though, not every hive will have a beard on any hot day and some may have a constant beard for a few days at a time.
Though it is important to note that if most of the hives are bearding and one colony is not bearding, it is a sign that the population is smaller and may signal a queen issue.
This is a great new beekeeper tip. If you notice a significant difference in the behavior of a colony of bees, it is worth noting. You may not know what is wrong with the colony, but it may prompt you to ask questions and look into the hive.
Is Bee Bearding Behavior Normal?
Although a single honey bee is a cold blooded insect, the honey bee colony is more like a warm blooded creature. With muscle movements to create body heat, and fanning to move air around and cool off, a lot of bee energy is spent regulating the internal temperature of the hive, this is why it’s important the bees employ a range of mechanisms to achieve this goal.
It’s also why it’s important for the attentive beekeeper to do what they can to save their colonies any energy possible. We want that energy used to build comb on new frames and on filling comb and storing honey. Any energy wasted needlessly will therefore eat into honey stores.
There is a debate whether a hive should be fully insulated to mimic a tree or to fully ventilate the hive through screened bottom boards and upper insulation. Both techniques can work well, but bearding will happen either way.
What Should I Do If I See My Bees Bearding?
The majority of the time, bearding is a totally normal behavior with no cause for concern. Bees form beards in hot and humid weather, it’s what they do. That doesn’t mean there are not steps that can be taken to ensure the health of your colony and perhaps save them some energy as well.
These tips are not always bearding related or an attempt to stop the bearding, but are helpful when bees are bearding due to hot weather.
What Should I Do If I See My Bees Bearding?
Begin by making sure that your bees have an adequate water source nearby. Bees often prefer dirty puddles to clean fresh water because they are looking for minerals in the water as well but if you’re in a dry environment and their hive temperature is elevated. Providing water nearby can save your colony a lot of energy and maybe even some dead bees.
It’s incredible how bees are able to find natural water sources during the summer. Don’t feel that you will need to provide water for a colony during the summer as most colonies will be able to find a source of water on their own.
Shade For Your Bees
It’s usually not recommended that a hive be fully shaded at all times of the day. There are benefits to having some direct sun from the obvious warmth in cooler weather to reducing the pest pressure from small hive beetles at all times of the year. I
f you have the option, provide shade in the afternoon to limit direct sun on the hive when temperatures are peaking to offer the most benefit to your bees.
Because all beekeeping is local, this advice should not be applied to every hive all across the country. For the vast majority of the country, full sun year around is ideal. But there are some parts of the country (i’m talking to you Arizona) that regularly hit temperatures around 110°. These are the areas where you may consider adding a little extra shade.
Shade For Your Bees
Although adding a honey super will not stop bearding in progress, that doesn’t mean strong colonies with no queen cells won’t benefit from some additional space. Honey bound is the term for when a queen no longer has enough room to keep her laying consistent because the comb is all filled.
Having enough space for your bees to continue raising more bees, filling comb and not becoming honey bound is important for a healthy colony.
We don’t recommend adding additional supers or honey boxes to a colony because it is bearding. But if a colony is bearding a lot and only has one box on the hive, then the colony will need more space to store food to survive the winter.
In the case of only having one deep box or only 2 medium boxes on the hive, the hive will beard because the colonies brood nest is too restricted. Prior to winter, it’s important for the bees to have enough space for the queen to lay eggs and also to store honey for the winter.
More Ventilation
Proper ventilation or insulation is critical during hot and humid times. If you’re seeing a significant amount of bee bearding your little bees may have very little ventilation. Be sure your top entrance is open to draw out hot air and draw in cooler air.
Many beekeepers find using a screened bottom board is the best way to improve their hive’s ventilation. A screened bottom board is made with a metal screen and usually has an optional tray or sliding board underneath. They will draw cooler air from outside of the hive and help push hot air out of the top.
Less Ventilation
Bees will naturally build their nest in a tree trunk that has excellent insulation properties and will actually keep most of the excess heat from the sun out of the hive. A tree trunk works the same way as a basement on a house does.
The thick walls and dirt around a basement will help to moderate the temperature in the basement, keeping the temperature from getting too cold and also keeping it from getting too hot.
A well insulated bee hive can work the same way as a tree trunk and the basement at a house. It’s an idea worth considering as to if you should fully insulate a hive.
Can I Have Too Much Ventilation?
As with many things in life, keeping bees is about striking a proper balance. The main problem caused by too much ventilation is often robbing. More ventilation means more air flowing to carry the scent of honey and nectar which can attract robbing bees. If your region is experiencing a nectar dearth, use caution with screened bottom boards or completely open entrances.
Should I Remove The Entrance Reducer If Bees Are Bearding?
When a colony of bees is bearding, it is typically during the warmer months. During the summer months, a colony of bees is more likely to be robbed out by another colony. And it’s also more likely to rob and steal honey from other colonies as well.
While most beekeepers install entrance reducers during the winter out of habit, we recommend having them on the hive year around. And they are particularly helpful during the summer when colonies are attempting to rob out each other.
A small entrance size, while it does limit ventilation slightly, it does help a colony protect itself from robbing bees. To read more about robbing, click here. To read more about when we use entrance reducers, click here.
What About A Top Bar Hive?
Honey bees beard regardless of the type of hive or tree the are in. Most of the recommendations in this article would apply to a top bar hive just the same. Water, shade and adequate space are just as important regardless of hive. The main factor that varies between hive types is the means available for providing hive ventilation.
A top bar hive has no separate screened bottom board or top entrance for ventilation and the cavity size remains consistent with no honey super to add on top. Instead, a top bar hive may have ventilation built directly into the bottom or the roof.
There are also ventilation bars which can be used to increase the airflow in top bar hives. These are just empty bars with holes drilled into them and a mesh screen to cover the holes.
Are My Bees About To Swarm?
We touched briefly on the difference between bearding and swarming and although they are different behaviors, bee bearding could still be a sign of a swarm to come. If you notice a large amount of bearding in one of your strong colonies, it doesn’t hurt to check your brood boxes for overcrowding and to see if your bees are making swarm preparations.
An expanding colony population packed tightly in a hive may be a sign of such swarm preparations. You will want to check the brood nest for any queen cells and learn to distinguish swarm cells and supersedure cells from each other.
Many new beekeepers think a crowded hive without enough space just means their bees need more space to prevent swarming, this leads them to place an additional honey super on the hive trying to stop the swarming process.
Problem is, simply providing more space for the bees to store honey and resources won’t help. By the time a colony population has outgrown the hive and queen cells have been built the swarm process has already begun and cannot be halted by just adding a box.
Becoming Better Beekeepers
Although bearding is normal behavior to see in the summer, it’s also a great example of how an attentive beekeeper can use bee behavior to read their hives. Learning to pay attention to signals in a hive and compare the behavior between your hives is how proactive beekeepers stay ahead of the many perils that bees face today. Learning to recognize what “normal” behavior looks like well enough to distinguish abnormal issues as they arise comes only from experience, keen observation and study.
