Hello
Mr. Bray i am worried about my big hive they are not as active as they were before the storm and the bees are not in the top brood chamber as they normally are i think they may have swarmed or they are staying below to keep the brood warm they are covering the top bars on the bottom chamber but they are not in the top as they usually are they use to be in both hive bodies could they have swarmed or are they keeping brood warm. I did not see much honey in the top as i did before the storm hit so i am wondering what is going on the other two are working like crazy but my first hive is not sending out workers as they normally do.
Tom
I've never experienced a tropical storm so am of little help in that regard. However, there are some things about bee behavior and weather factors that you may want to consider.
If the situation is localized to 1 hive then it is probable the hive swarmed (Or more likely absconded) as a survival mechanism leaving only the brood and immature bees behind. In which case the hive will be queenless and the last eggs are probably to old to grow a new 1. Monitor the hive for those conditions.
If the situation is evident in all the hives then either the bees are massing in the brood chamber to safe guard it. This condition can be verified by simply checking the brood area of the hive or a few days after the storm the volume of bees throughout the hives returns to normal.
Weather wise it may be possible that the high winds sucked some of the bees out of the hive.
I have listed the considerations in order of what I consider the most likely event. You may want to get more feedback from those of the forum who have had experience with hurricanes and tropical storms.
Hello Mr. Bray
I went out to check on my first hive but i did not go into them because it is cloudy and a little cool and i did not want them to lose thier heat. But they were in top chamber so i guess the storm must have forced them down to keep the brood and queen warm. All my hives are working some kind of dark green weeds and that were they are getting all of thier pollen and i also have been seeing them coming in heavy as if they are gathering nectar also and now i can here all three of them humming but the first one is not as loud as the other two but so far my new queen must be doing good because i have not found her body outside the hive and i found only two queen cells in the secong hive so i got rid of them but when the sun comes back out i am going to go inside and see if she is laying.
Tom