As you may already know, our tiny honeybees are major players in our environment and economy. But do beekeepers have to continuously import honeybees in the spring? What do bees do in winter? Do they all die?
Bees have evolved over the past 100 million years to adapt to diverse conditions. They live on all continents (except Antarctica) whether in dry, wet, frigid or desert-like environments. Name the place, there’s a native bee there! However, our honeybees are from European, Middle-Eastern and North-African descents. Of the 8 species of honeybees, Apis mellifera has evolved to withstand, and thrive in, cold and adverse weather.
The three biggest problems hives have over the winter are: condensation, diseases/pests and starvation.
Condensation is an easy one to deal with. Set up your hives with proper entrances and enough air movement and you are good to go. Problems arise when cold water drops form on the inner part of the hive ceiling and fall onto the bees. Proper air movement usually takes care of this issue.
Diseases and pests come in many shapes and sizes. Mice and rats can be easily dealt with by covering the main entrance with a screen. Bears can be kept at bay with a solar electric fence. As for diseases, the bees are mainly dealing with Varroa destructor, a mite that made the jump to our species of bees a few decades ago and is still taking a toll on the industry to this day. Varroa mites carry a high viral load that our bees have not evolved to deal with. Infected colonies numbers will soon dwindle and the hive will collapse. In August and November, beekeepers treat with organic acids (normally found in the hive), or with synthetic miticides, and these usually take care of most of the issues.
Lastly, starvation is a big one (but can easily be averted). We remove some, but not all of the honey, in the fall. Awesome. But by doing so, beekeepers are depleting the colonies of their stores. That’s why we supplement their diet with simple granulated sugar syrup. (This sucrose is basically converted by the bee into fructose and glucose, what they need for survival.) Since on average they go through about 1.5-2 lbs of honey per week, from October to April, hives have to reach a target weight before going into winter. If not, supplemental feed (either fondant or straight sugar) can be given when temperatures are above zero.
But what do the bees do in there?
Worker bees usually live for about six weeks: three inside the hive as nurse bees, three outside as foragers (foraging activities take a big toll on their health). But those born in September and October actually have a different physiology; they are able to store fat and can live up to 6 months! That is quite a difference in longevity.
When temperatures fall below 10°C, the “fat” winter bees start to clump up, forming a cluster around the queen. Similar to penguins making a ring to protect the young and the weak from the blizzard, the bees surround the queen to maintain a balmy 34° C at its core! As temperatures fall below freezing, they tighten their cluster; all you see is bee butts! They position their abdomens outwards, because of their insulating value; the inner fat and protein insulates against frigid temperatures. Then they start moving their wing muscles to generate heat. Evolution at its best.
But if they are diseased and die off, their population will fall below the minimum required to keep the place thermo-regulated – the queen will soon die.
But if they only have a few frames of honey stored away, they’ll die of starvation comes February.
A successful beekeeper has to maintain a precarious balance in terms of nutrition and disease control. So far this winter, at Buzzing Bush Apiary, we haven’t lost a single hive over winter. (We now have 32.)
Around March, the amazing cycle of life starts again. The queen resumes her egg-laying duties and the colonies thrive again, boosted by the abundance of silver maple and willow pollen.
If you want to know more about bees, you can join one of our Beekeeping Immersion Tours (2-3 hours) by visiting buzzingbushapiary.ca. If you are interested in getting set up with a couple of hives or more, enroll in our Intro to Beekeeping Workshop (8 hours, with in-depth theory and hands-on instruction).