Yesterday I had to change the solid BB on 1 of my hives ,replaced it with a screen BB. Before changing, the bees were bearding all way up into supers and even below bottom board.Today I am observing no bearding at all on that hive. The other hives still have lots of bearding.
My ? is .did I cause them to leave home or is it cuz they have more ventilation so they don have to beard?
Thanks ,sorry for the lengthy post.
your post is short. beemaster is the long poster of record right now!
most likely, they are enjoying the ventilation. the only way to satisfy your curiosity is to take a peak. are they not flying?
They are flying just not seeing that bearding .I want to split that hive next week but ,I need to let them settle a few days before I reopen. I've got queens ordered for next Thursday from Allen at Mt. Valley bees. I will travel to pick them up as I don't trust the post office to deliver anything, especially if it's live.
Yes, having the screen bottom boards greatly reduces the bearding. I'm assuming it's because of the added ventilation capabilities.