Room in the hive

[TwT]

I have a question, if i have a hive that is deep-medium-medium-medium, and another hive that is deep-deep-medium, and another hive that is deep-medium-medium, and all 3 hives are bearding , they have SBB's and vented at the top, but when i open all 3 the top of the intercover is covered and hive is slap full of bee's, its hot here and i was wondering if I was suppose to give them more room or leave them alone, these hive are full of bee's. any advice would be appreciated.

[Michael Bush]

There should always be room for expansion.  In the cold spring that could be a few empty frames.  In a flow that should be a few empty SUPERS.

[Phoenix]

Without more details of your situation, here are a few suggestions for anyone with bees that are still bearding.

First of all make sure the outlet to exhaust the heat and humidity out the top is of equal or greater value to the inlet of air at the bottom, it will not do as much good to completely open the bottom of the hive and only have a 3/4" hole near the top, and expect it to vent efficiently.  The smaller the exhaust vent in the top, the more constricted the flow will be, and the slower the heat will move out.

It is my understanding that the bees on the inner cover are newly emerged adults, just getting acquainted with their new surroundings, I relate this to a nursery of youngsters.  We often take these younglings and shake them off onto the ground in front of a nuc to strengthen it's workforce.  Having these younglings on the inner cover is a good sign of a recent surge in the hive population, which in turn will mean they will need more room soon.  If you fail to give the hive more room, or hesitate to open up the brood nest congestion, you are only setting this colony up to swarm.

Keep in mind there is no limit to the strength of a good colony, the only limitation, is that we place upon them.  If they outgrow their dwelling we supply them with, the colony will swarm, if we continue to expand their hive they will reward us with gold.

Some beeks run unlimited brood nests, allowing and encouraging the queen to lay in as many frames as she likes, so don't allow your focus to be limited, don't fool yourself into believing she will only need the bottom box or two for brood, she may fool you and fly off with half your colony, and leave you with a virgin upon what once was her throne

Have I provoked enough thought...?.