We live in the mountain west of the United States. The winters can get pretty severe and it’s common to have weeks where we have below zero Fahrenheit temperatures. We do keep bees and they generally make it through the winter to do their job of pollination and making honey the next spring.
What do the bees do to stay alive through the winter? Do they hibernate? Do they all die, and a new colony rise from eggs? Does the magic bee fairy come and create new colonies?
To survive the winter honeybees will have created winter stores of food. Honeybees also raise winter worker bees that are specifically adapted to keep the queen safe, fed, and warm. The bees also kick out the drone or male worker bees to save the honey and bee bread for the queen and winter workers. The worker bees then cluster around the queen and keep her warm and fed throughout the winter.
Honeybee preparation for winter
All throughout the spring, summer, and fall the honeybees work to gather nectar and pollen. The whole driving purpose of the honeybee is to raise more honeybees to gather more nectar and pollen. Surviving and thriving are the prime goal or objective of the honeybee.
The nectar is processed into honey. The pollen in processed into bee bread. Honey and bee bread are amazing substances. I have an article on bee bread here. The stores of food have all the nutrients the bees need to survive the winter.
The colony will work tirelessly to their death to gather resources. They work to grow the colony and to prepare the colony for the lean times. When there is a nectar flow the bees will be working like crazy to build up a cache of honey and bee bread so they can survive the absence of nectar and pollen, or a dearth of nectar and pollen.
The absence, or dearth, of resources for honeybees can come through the summer at different times but will most definitely occur in the winter. To prepare for the winter the colony will work like crazy. They will intelligently manage the colony to have enough resources to last anywhere from 3 to 8 months.
Managing the colony for the winter.
As winter approaches the nights get cooler, and the days get shorter. This triggers most of nature to prepare for the upcoming winter season. Honeybees are the same and take the signs of winter coming to prepare.
When winter is approaching the colony will change their method of management drastically. Instead of raising new workers to gather nectar and pollen they raise a different worker to survive the winter. Normal worker bees are raised during the spring and summer live 4-6 weeks at the most. They are a small efficient worker.
The new winter worker bees have larger fatter abdomens and have a much longer lifespan. Winter bees can live 4 to 8 months. This allows the workers to keep the queen alive throughout the cold winter months.
Male bees, drones.
When the days get shorter and nights get colder the winter workers take over the hive. The male bees, called drone bees, are kicked out of the hive. The drones don’t do any of the work of gathering pollen or nectar.
Drone bees are pretty much there for reproductive purposes. When winter comes, it’s time to rid the hive of the freeloaders and conserve the resources for the survival of the colony. The worker bees will kick out the drones leaving them to fend for themselves. This leaves the hard-earned honey and bee bread for use of the workers and especially the queen.
Winter worker bees
Winter worker bees are much heartier than the smaller more streamlined summer workers. The winter workers are, as I wrote before, larger through the abdomen. The winter bees have extra fatty cells added to their anatomy.
With the extra size it gives them the ability to survive much better throughout the winter. The winter workers have a much longer lifespan of 4 to 8 months. That’s amazingly longer than their summer counterparts.
The winter worker bees are built for survival and keeping the queen safe. They will sacrifice their wings and their selves to keep her alive.
Winter Cluster
The major goal and mindset of winter workers is to keep the queen bee alive and well. To do this they winter worker bees will surround the queen bee in a cluster. While they cluster around the queen bee they shiver and create heat.
When the temperature is consistently below 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4 degrees Celsius) the colony will go into cluster mode. The bees will ball or cluster up for the long haul. The cluster size will vary somewhat but is generally the size of a basketball.
During a cluster mode the outer layer of bees will detach their wings and vibrate their muscles creating heat. The detachment of their wings allows the worker bees to vibrate their muscles without creating a wind that could cool the cluster instead of creating heat. The friction of the bees vibrating their muscles creates the heat that keeps the queen toasty and warm.
The queen bee is protected and kept warm through this winter clustering. The outside of the cluster can be at 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius) and 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) in the center.
The work required to keep shivering and vibrating to maintain the queen’s warmth takes a lot of food. The workers will go through the winter stores of honey just keeping the queen bee alive and well.
Some colonies can go through over 80 pounds of honey in a winter season. This is something all beekeepers need to keep in mind during the harvesting of honey in the fall.
As stores of honey get used throughout the winter, the cluster will move to different parts of the hive for unused reserves of honey. They do this on warmer days to keep less stress on the queen bee.
Warm winter days.
On warm winter days the hive will take advantage of the warmth to do some maintenance. The bees will take what is called a cleansing flight where they can vacate their bowels, get a breath of fresh air and search for possible nectar and pollen sources. Honeybees will not defecate, or void their bowels, inside the hive. Honeybees are very hygienic and keep their place clean.
Late Winter/Early Spring
As the winter wears out the days get longer, and the temperature begins to get warmer. This triggers the colony to change back to a production mode. The queen will begin to lay eggs for spring and summer worker bees. The colony then will change from winter workers to spring/summer workers ready to go out gathering nectar and pollen when spring arrives.
Late winter and early spring can be the toughest time of year for a honeybee colony to survive. In order to raise the new spring/summer bees the brood nest needs to be warmer than throughout the winter. Through the winter they just needed to keep the queen alive which doesn’t take much honey. In the early spring they will need to keep more of the hive warm to raise the brood which requires a lot of honey and bee bread.
The tough part is when there is an inconsistent spring. If you get a cold snap in the spring the hive will expend a lot of energy keeping the brood warm and alive. Sometimes trying to keep the new brood warm and healthy will lead to the death of the entire colony.
We have had strong hives doing fine changing from winter cluster mode into spring mode. Then loose them with a short cold snap.
Warmer climate
In a warmer climate honeybee will not need to prepare as dramatically as in a colder climate. The temperature can be warm enough to let the bees survive without the rigors of going into an intense cluster mode.
Many warmer climates will allow several cleansing flights a week, whereas the colder climates it might be months before the bees get a break. There also may be sources of pollen and nectar available year round resulting in no real reason to change the colony behavior at all.
Honeybee winter behavior
Honeybees are fascinating, and like most of nature have a fascinating way to handle winter. The honeybees will:
- Observe the change in light with shorter days.
- Observe the change in consistent cooler temperatures
- Store up honey reserves
- Kick out the male, drone, bees.
- Raise winter worker bees better suited to last the winter
- Surround the queen and vibrate creating heat
- Keep the queen safe and warm in a cluster through the cold winter months
When given the proper safeguards a beekeeper can have a honeybee colony survive and thrive through winter well.