Constant Harvest
Volume 4 Number 1 • April 2005
Bees in Winter — Mary Woltz
Constant Harvest • Volume 4 Number 1 • April 2005 Updated: 07/25/06
Winter isn’t necessarily a season when one thinks much about honey bees, unless, of course, one is a beekeeper. However, their ability to survive the colder months of the year has great bearing on the success of their more familiar warm weather activities of pollination and honey production.
Honey bees overwinter as a wakeful cluster of many thousands. This gives them a major advantage over their less social cousins by insuring rapid expansion in the spring, thus allowing them to devote very large numbers of bees to the gathering of provisions. Much like humans freeze, can or otherwise preserve the summer’s bounty, the honeycombs serve as the bees pantry, storing the fruits, or rather juices, of summer toil upon which their very survival will depend.
In autumn as the days begin to shorten and temperatures drop, so do the number of bees in the colony. The drones, the male members of the hive, whose lack of hygiene and large appetites present liabilities for the other members are then expelled from the hive. This leaves the workers, or females, and their single queen to cluster together in a constant dance, alternating between the warmer core of the cluster and its cooler exterior edge.
The size of the cluster reflects the external temperatures, expanding and contracting as it warms or cools. Additional warmth is generated by wiggling their wing muscles and consuming extra amounts of winter stores of honey and pollen.
Fortunately for the colony, worker bees born in the fall live much longer than their spring or summer sisters, who have literally worked themselves to death by about six weeks of age. This factor allows the queen to have a brief respite from egg laying. The absence of brood, or baby bees, allows the cluster temperature to drop to approximately 68¡F, allowing the bees to conserve valuable energy.
After her brief hiatus in egg laying, towards the very depths of winter, the queen will resume this most important task, and the temperature will immediately climb to approximately 95 degrees. This signals the beginning of a new year for the bees. As the days gradually lengthen and temperatures warm, the colony grows, and begins to seek early foraging opportunities.
Gardeners can provide for the bees needs at this most important time of year, through mindful plantings. Spring bulbs such as crocus, snowdrops, daffodils and tulips are highly valued for their reserves of pollen and nectar. Shrubs such as hazelnut, witch hazel and pussy willow are wonderful sources of pollen for the young bees. Perhaps the easiest way to assist the bees is to forego the temptation to remove any dandelions, which are excellent sources of both nectar and pollen. These favors are certain to be rewarded with continued visits throughout the year.
Mary Woltz is a beekeeper and partner in the Hamptons Honey Company, based in Water Mill, NY. She manages 100 colonies of honey bees located on 11 different locations, including EECO Farm, scattered between the North and South Forks of Long Island’s East End.
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