I live in Atlanta, Georgia (USA), and have noticed some rather
bizarre behavior recently from my bees. I have a couple of hives in
the back yard, about 30 feet from the back-of-house sliding glass
door, and for a number of mornings off and on I've noticed several
hundred bees spread out over the sliding glass door about an hour
before dawn. When I turn on the outside light, they become irritated
and fly at the light, buzzing loudly. As it gets light, they disperse
and either return to the hives or leave to forage.
 
   We've had 100+ degree Fahrenheit days here off and on over the
course of the last couple of weeks, with very little rain and
temperatures only cooling into the low eighties at night. Humidity
levels are fairly high, despite the lack of rain. I've provided lots
of water to the hives, but am wondering if this behavior indicates
that the bees are seeking additional moisture from condensate on the
glass door...?  This is definitely not swarm behavior, but I've never
seen it before. Both colonies have stores, and although both are new
package colonies (started in April), populations are good and they've
both drawn comb in 1+ full brood chambers.
 
   Any ideas?
 
   Jeef