BlueRidgeBee

 In late August in South Carolina, as in other places, we sometimes see bees bearding in front of the the hive box. This can happen for several reasons and should not be mistaken for preparing to swarm. The times I have seen a hive getting ready to swarm there was a large number of bees in front and flying around the hive.  Bearding happens because it is hot in the hive in late afternoon and they are helping to keep the hive cooler by hanging outside. Also, when the nectar dearth happens, there is not much nectar to be found, they don't have as much work to do. Also, there may not be any empty cells for nectar. Always do a hive check and make sure everything looks good and there is room for growth. See a bearding hive at 5:16 PM vs 2:35 PM. 5:16 PM 2:35 PM  Here is a pre-swarm hive. You can see a big difference. This was happening in April. I put them back in the hive but swarming was on there mind and eventually they did swarm.  

 My hives are really doing great this summer and producing lots of honey. They are also growing very strong. Especially one hive that has become very aggressive. So aggressive that I have thought that maybe they are Africanized. Most hives send out a few guards to warn you off when you are working with the hive but this one sends out 20 to 30. I have one deep and 3 supers on this hive and it continues to grow. This is a good problem to have but I got a little careless recently and got a bit stung. Getting stung is a common event when bee keeping. Sometimes I will swell a little sometimes not at all. Not sure the reason. On Sunday a week ago though I was working this hive and they were attacking me and one girl found a little hole I had in my netting around my face and stung my forehead. At first it didn't seem too bad and actually my hand looked worse because it received several stings. I took Benadryl and my hand was going down but suddenly I noticed what felt like swelling around...