robbing maybe

[rdrclshad]

     Hello all I am new at this and I think I have a problem, first off I am fairly new to beekeeping so I may just be seeing things. I have 5 hives this year I bought them as starter hives all at the same time 4 of them where 8 frames of bees the other was 3 frames. Anyway I am worried about one of the bigger hives it has created comb on all 10 frames of a hive body in about three weeks so it appears to be busy enough problem is I am seeing a LOT of large bee's flying in and out, they look like drones but there are a lot of them. There is also a lot of activity outside the entrance, it has been in the 90's around here and kind of humid so I maybe this is just a way to keep cool. On the big bee's, none of the other bee's pay them any attention like I would expect them to if they were robbing I even saw one sitting on the top of the frames when I took the cover off. So

Am I seeing bee's that are getting robbed by something else?

Bees that are too crowded and they are forcing the drones out the door?

Bee's that just need better ventilation

Or I just need to put another super on and see what happens?


I know it is impossible to tell exactly what is happening so if I can try to clarify anything please let me know

[Patrick]

Robbing can be hard to see at first. It took me awhile.  I look for bees fighting on the ground, capped honey that has been torn or shredded into, bees crawling all over the side of the hive away from the entrance, bees flying behind the hive and bees crawling up the front then taking flight with there ill gotten booty. A robber screen seems to make no difference to the bees or the hive so put one on and you will see these signs diminish.

[Bennettoid]

"Wrestling" at the entrance is a dead give away.

[Understudy]

A large group of bees just flying around the hive is an orientation flight. It is when the new batch of bees is learning to go out and forage. If there is no wrestling at the entrance it is most likely an orientation flight. It is quite a spectacle. I have certain hives that I could set my watch to because they do it at the same time every day.

Sincerely,
Brendhan