A New Year

At this time of year, there are no drones left in the hive.  They get kicked out as winter approaches, the ladies don't want to waste their precious honey stores on the boys.  However, worker brood may start to appear, spring isn't that far away and the guys will be needed again. 

The bees typically don't like to go outside on days with temperatures below 45 to 50 degrees.  They like to stay warm.  Right now, the girls are surrounding the queen in a ball-shaped cluster to keep her warm and maintain an overall temp of about 93 degrees.  The way they do this is by moving constantly from the center of the cluster to the outside and back again.  Their constant movement acts like a heater.

They'll be eating a lot of honey stores now, if they are low, be sure help them out with a supplement of sugar water.  We only put this in when the the outside temperature is at least 50.  If you open the lid when it's too cold, it makes them have to work so much harder to get the hive temp back up and keep it up.

On the days they do leave the hive, they have to leave for cleansing flights.  If you have snow around your hives, be sure to keep the entrances clear for this and proper ventilation.


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