Winter is coming, What does that mean for Bees?

Ah! Fall! An absolutely beautiful time of year! Mosquitoes are gone, leaves are changing and there’s fresh apples to be picked! For many of us fall is our favorite time of year. For drones (male bees) maybe not so much. As the Queen stops egg laying during October-November, drones are kicked out to preserve resources. The Drones don’t contribute to the collection so they are kicked out of their warm home to die in the cold so the hive has a better chance to survive the winter.

While the males are outside in the cold, worker Bees ( the females) form a basketball sized cluster around the Queen to keep her and the hive warm. In this cluster, the bees closest to the queen pamper her with royal jelly and clean up after her (talk about royal treatment!), as the bees on the outer layer of the cluster leave are able to eat and when the whether is above 55 degrees Fahrenheit they can go relieve themselves (bees poop too). The bees rotate through the cluster taking turns eating and relieving themselves while beating their wings to keep hive temperature at 92 degrees Fahrenheit in the center of the cluster. Now with less work to be done a worker bees lifespan increases from 4-6 weeks in the summer to 3-5 months through the winter.

With winter in full bloom a worker bee now spends her time keeping the hive warm, the queen fed, and the hive fed in rotations with her fellow worker bees until Spring begins to make its appearance. Come January the queen begins laying eggs again to prepare for the incoming warm weather so plenty of bees are ready for the spring bloom so they can gather desperately needed food .

We can learn many things from bees. There is a time for work, a time for rest and always prepare for the future. We can be like the bees and stock up on Fresh, Raw, Unfiltered honey from Shelliesbees.com! From now until October 21st enjoy 10% off with coupon code:FALL2020

Swarming Season is About to Begin!

What does it mean when a hive swarms?  Are they dangerous when they swarm?

Swarming behavior of a hive is fascinating!  

A hive will often decide to swarm because their current living quarters are becoming too small.   Swarms are considered natural reproduction of the hive and give the remaining bees more room.  The worker bees decide in advance (sometimes months in advance) and begin preparations.  The first thing they have to do is to get the Queen to lose weight so she can fly as the swarm will take the queen with them when they leave the parent hive.  To get the queen to loose weight, every worker bee that comes in contact with the queen gives her a quick shake. 

Then on a warm still spring day, usually around 10-ish in the morning  a large gathering ( about 60% of the total bee population) accumulates outside of the hive.  Hanging out in a large mass generally on the hive itself waiting for the "time to go".   When it is "time to go" all the bees hanging out on the hive, with their queen fly about 100 feet away from their parent hive and gather into a cluster like the picture above shows.  It is an amazing site with thousands of bees in the air.  It can be frightening too, but there is nothing to be afraid.

This brings me to the answer to the second question.  Are swarms dangerous?  No they are not.  Remember when I mentioned preparations the worker bees must make before they can swarm?  Another preparation that must be made is carrying enough food to their new home.  Each worker bee that is leaving the hive engorges herself on honey so they will have food.  They engorge themselves so much it is like Thanksgiving  Day meal and they couldn't sting you if they wanted to because their tummies are too full to sting.  Besides, they have no home to protect at this point and are looking for a new home.   A European honey bee swarm is very harmless and they will find a new home quickly.   

Enjoy the sight if you see a swarm and know that another strong hive of bees just reproduced!