Karen DeHond wrote:

>   Am supposed to install my nucs tomorrow, 5/19, when I have help with the
> lifting, have had them since Fri 5//14.  Today is the first hot day we've
> had and 3 of the nucs have large clusters of bees on the outside,   Are
> they just cooling off or getting ready to swarm?

If you bought these nucs already set up, they may have been started some time
ago and existing brood is emerging, crowding the small space of a nuc,
especially in hot weather.  Even if you set them up yourself, you may have
gotten too large a population, again crowding them too much for the heat.
The bees are just doing what you might do on a hot day, sitting out on the
front porch with your friends.

Ted Fischer
Dexter, Michigan USA