Lesson 1 Winter Clustering Good afternoon Luvabee Fans, our cold snap is behind us and the bees are out buzzing around collecting much pollen. The weaker hives have feeds attached since their honey stores are much lower than an established hive. This is our first posting for 2015 and our first lesson is about winter clustering. When the evening temperatures fall into the low 50s and nectar fields become more scarce, the honey bees begin to cluster to protect the brood (consisting of eggs, larvae, and pupae) by keeping the cluster temperature around 93 degrees with heat generated by the bees. The queen will either taper off or may stop egg laying completely during October or November, even if pollen is stored in the combs. As temperatures drop, the bees draw closer together to conserve heat. The outer layer of bees tightly compresses, insulating the bees within the cluster. As the temperature rises and falls, the cluster expands and contracts. The bees within the cluster have access to the food stores. During warm periods, the cluster shifts its position to cover new areas of comb containing honey. Any extreme prolonged cold spells can prohibit cluster movement, and the bees may starve to death only inches away from honey. The queen will stay within the cluster and moves with it as it shifts position. During late December to early January (even in northern areas of the United States) the queen should resume egg laying to replace the bees that have died during the winter, but this depends on the pollen stores gathered during the previous Fall. In colonies with a lack of pollen, brood rearing is delayed until fresh pollen is collected from Spring flowers, and these colonies usually emerge from Winter with reduced populations. The colony population during the Winter usually decreases because old bees continue to die. However, colonies with plenty of young bees produced during the Fall with an ample supply of pollen and honey for Winter, usually have a strong population in the Spring. Next week we will discuss substitute feeding. Have a wonderful week and always remember to Luvabee!
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 22:05:25 +0000
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