What Happens to Honey Bees in the Winter
As we head into winter, with so much to practice on the homestead, it can be easy to overlook the winter needs of your honey-producing bees. Simply don't. They need your help too. In society to prepare your hives, it's important to understand what happens to bees in the winter and how your climate affects them.
What Happens to Bees in the Wintertime?
As the temperatures fall and the flowers fade, people ofttimes wonder what practise bees practice in the winter? Different other insects, bees do not hibernate during the wintertime or lay eggs that overwinter and sally in bound. Bees are active all wintertime long.
Then what happens to bees in the winter? During the winter, the bees have 1 goal; protecting the queen until spring. They will do whatever it takes to reach this goal, even if it means they dice in the procedure.
In one case temperatures reach nigh 55 degrees, the bees will brainstorm to cluster effectually the queen. The colder the temperatures get the tighter the cluster will get. They will shiver and flap their wings to increase the hive temperature to proceed the queen warm at about 96 degrees. They rotate the duty of existence on the exterior so that everyone can accept a chance to stay warm and not become worn out.
As you tin can imagine, it takes a lot of energy to shiver and flap wings to keep the hive warm. The cluster of bees will motility around the hive and eat honey to fuel their warmth creating venture.
The bees will stay in the hive all winter long keeping it warm and eating honey. However, if the temperature is above 40 degrees some of the bees might leave the hive in club to keep waste accumulation down.
In order for a bee farm to survive the winter, all the hives need nutrient, water, and warmth.
Feeding Bees in the Winter
Regardless of how mild your winters are, you'll want to make sure that you leave honey for your bees for the winter. In that location are other means of feeding bees in the wintertime but beloved is the best fuel for them.
Depending on how long the winter is, a beehive will need about xxx pounds of honey to make information technology to bound. Therefore, well-nigh beekeepers that use Langstroth hives go out ane deep box for the bees for the wintertime. Some beekeepers will get out an additional box, a super, if they anticipate a longer winter. This can exist good for the hive but information technology likewise creates more room in the hive that the bees volition need to go on warm and defend.
Learning how to make fondant for bees is a great style to ensure that the bees have enough food without having the extra infinite to worry about. Making fondant for bees is easy and can be done during the summer and frozen so it's fix to apply when you lot are preparing your hives for winter. Ane word of circumspection, don't try to use fondant or syrup instead of leaving an advisable corporeality of honey for the bees. Fondant does not have all that bees need to stay healthy, information technology's just for backup.
If you have a queen excluder between the deep boxes, removing it will aid the cluster stay together as they motility around the hive to eat. If the queen has to stay in the bottom box, then bees will need to leave the cluster and go to the top box to go dearest for the queen and the other bees. This uses a lot of free energy and puts the hive at adventure.
There is no need to provide h2o inside the hive for the winter. The humidity inside the hive will create condensation for the bees to apply. However, it's important to make sure there is some ventilation in the hive as likewise much condensation is harmful. At that place should be condensation on the sides of the boxes but non on the bees.
Opening the hive to bank check on it is risky when temperatures are below 40 degrees. Every fourth dimension the hive is opened, warm air escapes and cold air enters. Most beekeepers don't peek inside their hives during the wintertime simply in that location is still a fashion to check to see if the bees are still alive. If yous tap on the hive, yous should hear the bees buzzing inside. Now, you don't need to do this daily or fifty-fifty weekly, merely you lot do want to check periodically.
The most dangerous fourth dimension during the wintertime for bees is at the terminate when information technology begins to warm up and the bees leave the hive to fodder. Unfortunately, there usually isn't much, if any, pollen and nectar for the bees and they come back empty-handed and hungry. Depending on how much dearest the bees needed to swallow to survive thus far, there may not be any honey left in the hive. At this point,
the bees either demand to be fed with fondant or syrup, or they will probably die. This is the most important fourth dimension for a apiculturist to be regularly checking on his hives.
Helping Bees Stay Warm and Safe
For the about part, bees do a wonderful job of regulating the temperature in their hive. All the same, if you alive in an extreme climate you might need to help them stay warm by providing insulation or windbreaks.
Snow is a great insulator, so at that place is no need to remove snow from the elevation of the hives. However, information technology's important to continue the snow cleared from the hive opening so bees can come and go as they need to. The opening also helps ventilate the hive to go on condensation from being excessive.
Some beekeepers will wrap their hives with batting or foam, and add tar newspaper, to keep their hives warm. Others will use hay bales on three sides, keeping the front side open up, to add together insulation to their hives. The important matter to remember about whatever insulation technique you use is that you're not trying to make the hive airtight, it withal needs ventilation.
Windbreaks are some other great way of helping your hives stay warm; just make sure the hive opening is facing away from the windbreak. Fences and hay bales make good windbreaks.
If you are using hay bales as a windbreak or for insulation, you'll need to keep an eye out for rodents trying to motion in for the winter.
If you demand to move your hives in society to take advantage of a permanent windbreak, similar a fence, make sure you practise it in the evenings and but a few anxiety at a time. You'll need to start the process early in the season.
During the winter, pests such as rodents, roaches, and ants can move into a hive seeking the warmth and food. This happens in cold climates and in mild climates. Mice and rat traps can assist, and and then tin keeping your hives up off the ground.
Winterizing the Beehive for Your Climate
And so much of winterizing your hives depends on your climate and I always recommend that outset beekeepers seek out a mentor beekeeper who has successfully kept bees through several winters their surface area. Nothing will assistance you help your hives more than having someone to talk with nigh your specific climate and how information technology affects bees in the wintertime.
However, in every climate, bees need food, adequate condensation for water, adequate ventilation for airflow, warmth, and pest protection. Agreement your climate will help you make up one's mind how to provide these essentials for your hives.
What happens to bees in the winter can mean life or expiry for the hive. How do you prepare your hives for the wintertime?
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Source: https://backyardbeekeeping.iamcountryside.com/health-pests/what-happens-to-bees-in-the-winter/
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