Bee cluster hanging onto inner cover

[rayb]

Took a look the other day in my 2 hives with temps about 45 deg. and found several hundred bees hanging from the underside of the inner cover. There were still a lot in the top box (3 mediums) and a small bunch in the middle box. I have several pounds of dry sugar on the top frames which they were eating and fairly good stores still in the top box frames.

Question!!

Were they just hanging out while the temps were moderate but not quite good enough to fly ?

And would they have gone back down to "The Cluster" when it got colder.

I'm still not sure what "normal" is.

Thanks, Ray

[iddee]

With the sun heating the lid, they were absorbing the heat. When the sun goes down, they will migrate back down to the cluster.

[rayb]

Thanks, I was hoping for something like that and not that they had eaten their way to the top with no where to go.

Ray