VTBeeHannah · Skåne, SE · Beginners · Jun 2, 2026

First package install — bees are bearding hard on day 2. Normal or swarming?

Installed my first package Saturday. It hit 31°C today and there's a big beard hanging off the front. Total panic or totally fine? Box is single deep, 5 frames drawn comb + 5 foundation. Entrance reducer on smallest setting. Fed 1:1 syrup.

#package#bearding#first-year

▲ 19 votes 💬 3 replies

3 replies

TexasBeeSam · Jun 2, 2026

Breathe — that's just AC. Bees beard to cool the hive when it's hot. A fresh package has nothing to swarm with.

SkaneBees · Jun 2, 2026

Open the entrance reducer one notch. Tight reducer + hot day + new colony = ventilation problem. The bearding will calm down once they can move air.

MayaBees · Jun 3, 2026

Also confirm they're actually drawing comb. If you've got the room and no comb is going up after 5 days, that's a feed problem, not a heat problem.

Join 12,000+ beekeepers logging hives, asking questions, and mapping forage.

Get the Beekeeping Community app

First package install — bees are bearding hard on day 2. Normal or swarming?

Does the heft test actually work? Calibrating my arm against a luggage scale and what weight to aim for

Started feeding syrup yesterday and robbing broke out within an hour — how do I feed without triggering it again?

Pile of dead drones outside my hive in September — normal drone eviction, and does it mean the queen is fine?

2:1 autumn syrup won't dissolve and went cloudy in the feeder — hot tap water or boiling, and how thick is right?

One year in today: everything I wish I'd known when the package arrived

Heard at the association meeting: "feed early or feed never." Why exactly does late feeding fail?