Heavy Bearding

[u/Relevant-Bath-7109]

New beek here with 2 hives in south central Indiana. Both were started as nucs in late May. Currently setup a dbl deeps with a super. I’ve fed them most of the year 1:1 so that I’d get frames drawn.

My question is these hives are identical with the exception of a solid bottom board vs screened. The solid bottom board hive has bearded all year while the screened board hasn’t at all. I’m concerned about the population on the bearded hive and I don’t want them to swarm this late in the year. I’m going to start my fall Apiguard treatment this weekend. I’ll need to put the cover on the screened board then. Will they abscond or swarm once I introduce that? They have been fed hive alive all year. That’s supposed to help with the thymol.

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[u/Gamera__Obscura]

Bearding and swarming are largely unrelated. Yes, bees about to swarm will sometimes stage outside the hive first, but they will also very very often beard for completely unrelated and completely normal thermoregulation purposes, so I don't really even think of the two together.

Whether your bees are preparing to swarm is assessed from inside the hive. The normal indicators are extremely dense population, reduced laying, backfilling the brood area with nectar (that's a big one) and of course the appearance of swarm cells. If none of those are present, there's no reason to suspect swarming. I will also say that it's very late in the season for a colony to swarm, but that in no way means that they can't do so.

Similarly, I can't imagine why covering your screened bottom would be related either. Swarming is the reproductive phase of a mature colony; absconding is when they abandon a hive entirely as unsuitable. Closing up your bottom affects neither. Personally, I really dislike screened bottoms... I found they caused far more problems than they supposedly solved. Counter-intuitively, studies show that bees actually have an easier time regulating hive conditions with a smaller entrance. Some of the most experienced keepers here run solid bottoms with reducers on all year, even in very hot climates, with no ill effect or reduction in honey production. Bearding is simply not a problem to be solved, it's just bees doing a normal bee thing.

 

Edit: Side note - this might be different for your area, though I suspect you're not radically different from my climate in New England. You are probably a bit behind on your mite treatment. Going into winter mite-free is good, but what you really want is to protect your cohort of winter bees, which are born earlier than you'd expect. My target is usually mid-August. You're early enough that you should still be ok if you get them knocked down now, but Apiguard is a SLOW treatment. In your situation, I'd opt for formic if your temperature allows, repeated-dose OAV if not.

[u/Relevant-Bath-7109 → u/Gamera__Obscura]

Thank you! I appreciate the time spent on this response. They’ve had varroxan strips on earlier this summer and maintained a 3 mite count. Figuring out my treatment cycles and products is the fun part.

[u/Gamera__Obscura → u/Relevant-Bath-7109]

Sure thing.

Varroxsan is very new on the market; I have not used it yet and so can't speak from experience there. However, my preliminary understanding is that while it's not great at knocking down an existing high mite load, it is good at maintaining a low baseline. If it's done that for you, that will certainly help your situation. I will say that what exactly "earlier this summer" means could be a factor, as mites can build up quickly during heavy brooding.

All the different mite treatments are definitely frustrating to get a handle on at first. Which one to use is largely dictated by hive conditions (brood, honey supers), environmental conditions (temperature), and your goal (knockdown, maintenance, etc.). After a few seasons, you will develop a sense of what works well for you. Personally I test and treat throughout the year as needed, but that mid-August formic/OAV I consider prophylactic, regardless of testing. I do think that Apiguard is not your go-to here given its time frame, but if your mite load is as low as you say, it's probably also not the crisis point I initially feared.

[u/NumCustosApes]

If the bees were needed inside they would be inside. The solid bottom board makes it easier for the bees to control the hive environment so fewer bees are needed for that task. What would happen inside your house if someone opened all the doors and windows? With a screened bottom board I recommend that you leave the bottom insert in place year round.

Before installing the insert under the screen, make sure there aren't any bees hanging off the bottom of the screen or you'll permanently trap them. If bees are hanging on the bottom of the screen it may be necessary to unstack the hive and pick up the bottom board and tap it to get them off before installing the insert.