I'm also concerned about bearding, though this thread has alleviated my fears somewhat. It's been VERY hot (100's) and humid here in Virginia lately, and we had a freak storm that knocked out millions of people's power over the weekend. I happened to be out of state when it happened, so first thing I did was check the hive when I got home tonight. It's close to midnight, and even now there's a MASSIVE beard on the hive. I really don't want to lose the bees due to a swarm, but due to the heat and humidity, can I assume this isn't a swarm indicator?
Four days ago I did a check of the hive and saw that they WERE pretty much full, with the top two hive bodies (out of five) mostly filled with honey. I won't be able to split the hive until the 12th either way, so I wanted to know if I should be worried about a swarm heading out sooner than later.
The hive is three months old, but has been doing phenomenally well.