Brother Adam often said that you should listen to our bees to be able to understand them and learn better how to manage them. Peter Donovan, who worked for him, expressed that when you went through a hive you read the bees like you read a book when going through the combs (pages). After all the bees don’t read our manuals so we have to read them instead.
The other day my I talked to my niece who has been a beekeeper for more than 20 years. She has 3 colonies and live on the countryside in the middle of the forest. This year her bees have had an unusual good flow on heather (Calluna vulgaris).
She told me she and some others stood and talked on the barnyard when a bee came and landed on her arm. It sat still and looked at her without a sign of flying away. Regina said that maybe it wanted to tell them something. So she went to the hives to take a look.
When she arrived there a football of bees hanged outside. So she gave that hive another box. The bees went inside and started flying more active. They needed more room. You need to listen to your bees!