Hi Layne
 
You mention bees clustering on the front of your hive in both heat
and less extreme weather.
 
I do not know if this is universal bee behaviour but with my bees it
is pretty common if they are doing well and producing surpluss bees.
 A little tip is to requeen when they get like this - that nice lump
on the front can make a swarm - but with a young queen will make a
crop.
 
Here in SA it is quite normal on a hot day, if your bees are in a
shaded place to see them hanging in a big cluster on the hive front.
That is heat dissipation.
 
Another thing this could be, if you have not noticed it in previous
years is an advent of 'africanized' behaviour patterns into your
area??
 
Who knows.
 
Something interesting to do would be to take a photograph of the bees
on the front, and then to take (during the day) a photo of a frame of
bees. Count various colourations and compare the ratios for on the
front to the ones inside.
 
Keep well
 
Garth
Garth Cambray           Camdini Apiaries
Grahamstown             Apis mellifera capensis
Eastern Cape Prov.
South Africa
 
Time = Honey