massive exit like a swarm but recurs for like 2 months?

[ChrisT]

I have a split that I made back in April. For all of april they were fine. Normal behavior.
In June about 2 times i noticed what looked like a possible robbing happening.
All of the sudden many many bees would be around the hive, not really in a swarm pattern, just lots of bees.
I did the whole sheet thing etc and after about 30 minutes it would calm down.
I would check and see nothing wrong inside the hive.
After a few times of this, I ruled out robbing because they seemed to be coming from inside the hive So i started thinking swarm.
From then on, whenever this happened, id check for queen cells, etc.. but nothing. SO then i started to tell myself, or maybe fool myself, that it was very frequent mass orientation flights.

In july it got more frequent like once a week and id check each time, no queen cells, no stopping of laying eggs (like preparing to swarm), etc. the queen looks fat as ever. By the end of july and now the first week in august its like twice a week but still no evidence of swarm preparation. The orientation answer no longer sat quite right with me anymore either.

It always happens near the end of the day too (5-7pm eastern).. Tons come out of the hive all at once and do orientation moves and then fly off one by one, i assume off to find honey, and it all calms down in about 30 minutes with some going back inside the hive.

Meanwhile, my other hive continues to operate sanely. Ive had hives for about 5 years so I know what swarm looks like when they make that first exit. It resembles that sort of but they dont race back and forth like in a swarm and then land somewhere but its almost similar to this where they come out en mass, do circles and then leave, not in a group though, one by one.

I would think that if it WAS a swarm, id have some result of a swarm in the 2 and half months of doing this.  But still no queen cells, not honey bound, keeps making brood, etc.. what could this mass exit all at once in evening be? Its like rush hour in reverse.

Thank you in advance

Chris

[Nugget Shooter]

Orientation flights perhaps? Normal and can be quite the show with a large colony then 10 or 15 minutes later all back to normal, it is house bees learning how to find home as they graduate to foragers.

[ChrisT]

Thanks.. I did think possibly orientation. its a 1 medium split from april so its a small colony. its 2 mediums now with very good population numbers. ive just never seen this level of numbers in orientation flights before and so frequent, at least coming from such a small hive.

I just keep saying id wish theyd go ahead and swarm (or do something) so i can get back what has been normal for me for previous years.

Im used a small group coming out the front of the hive and doing their orientation dance but not this big display that im having for the last 2 months

thanks again

[Caribou]

Every day the queen lays eggs which means that every day new bees hatch out.  I would guess that this means that everyday bees graduate to outside chores.  If each bee does orientation flights for two or three days and if you have a very active queen...

Then again I'm starting to believe that bees have a perverse sense of humor and they may just be messing with your head. 

As beekeepers go I'm still in larval stage so take any advice from me with a grain of salt.

[Colobee]

I have a row of hives that sometimes take their orientation flights at the same time. Sometimes I just have to sit and watch in awe. It looks for all the world like a hive is swarming, but no - just several strong hives taking orientation flights at about the same time.

[Acebird]

Do they have space?  From April to August the hive should be beyond two mediums.  It is not a hive I would put a lot of energy in.

[Michael Bush]

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfaqs.htm#orientation

"Why are there all these bees in the air?

"Another panicked posting several times a year will involve a lot of bees flying. This is usually interpreted by the new beekeeper as either a swarm or robbing. A swarm does put a lot of bees in the air, but in this case they are just hovering around the hive. If the bees seem happy and organized and not frantic and fighting on the landing board, and especially if it's short-lived and on a sunny afternoon, then it's probably just young bees orienting for the first time. Look for signs of wrestling or fighting on the landing board to rule out robbing. If there are no signs of robbing, this is the sign of a healthy hive. If the hovering bees seem to be leaving a trail of bees as they fly off, then it's probably a swarm gathering in one of your trees."

[ChrisT]

Thanks for everyone's replies

I will just assume that its bee orientation. Its just that in 5 years I havent ever seen orientation that looked like this from a hive. Maybe this is just one of those things you learn along the way that they can do sometimes. My other hive does orientation flights but not to the magnitude that this smaller hive is doing it, if that is indeed what they are doing.

I had thought that maybe part of the hive "wants" to swarm and the rest doesnt or the queen cant or maybe she doesnt want to.
Her wings look fine so i can assume she would fly if she wasnt so fat and they arent building queen cells so the hive "as a whole" doesnt want to swarm.

Again, I appreciate all the answers and will just watch in wonder. Its not that I "need" to solve this mystery since it is a smaller hive, I just wanted to learn what this could possibly be.

Thanks

[Michael Bush]

Orientation is short lived phenomena.  If you don't walk out there at just the right time (time being both the position of the sun and the heat put together) then you may never see it.

[KeyLargoBees]

in my home yard I have 3 hives on a stand in my backyard outside the window in plain view...one hive orients at 4 PM almost to the minute...the other 2 vary and one has taken to orienting literally at dusk which I find very odd ....but hey bees will be bees. I am sure there is some convoluted reason for one hive to orient almost 4 hours before the other which is literally 3 feet away LOL