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Our Bees are Alive, Spring 2013

Starting around March 20 each season, we make the rounds in the scattered patches of snow and check on how our honey bees came through the winter. I look forward to being out on the land, and though the days can be cold and raw, there is a great warmth in the returning of the light and promise of Spring in the air. We delight in seeing the bees that are alive, these hives having made it through our long Northern winter. This is entwined with the sadness of finding that some of the bee hives did not make it and are dead. Often, the bees that have passed on have a box of honey left, that they do not need, and this is moved to the bee hives that are alive, and often light in weight and in need of honey. The hives with insufficient stores would not make it to the days of Spring when the flowers will provide them with enough nectar and pollen to sustain their lives. In transferring the honey from one hive to the next, I feel a renewed relationship with the bees and the help that we give them.

Todd Hardie

Live from the Hive

The Season Turns

L: A snowy March morning. R: Goat Willow in bloom.

Winter shifts into spring with the Spring Equinox on March 20, and with the change comes contrasts in weather. One day it’s 45 degrees and the pussy willows are blooming; the next morning everything is covered with 6 inches of snow. On warm days the bees are flying, looking for the first pollen to feed the brood that they are already tending. On snowy cold days, there is no sign of live outside the hive. This can be a dangerous time for the bees as they run out of winter food, so we watch closely and add another super of honey to the hive if need be, hoping spring will arrive soon.

Annie Watson

Pussy Willow photo credit: David Hawgood, Creative Commons License
Snow photo credit: Ann D. Watson @ 2013

newsletters

Winter Cluster, Winter Cold

Winter Cluster, Winter Cold

When cold weather comes, honeybees form a tight cluster inside the hive to keep warm. The cluster’s dense outer mantle of bees can approach bird feathers or mammal fur in its ability to insulate. Within, the looser inner core of bees surrounds the queen, and can reach a temperature of 90 degrees! All of this is fueled by the bees’ winter stores of honey.

The prolonged periods of cold we’re experiencing are hard on the bees, for the longer it stays very cold, the harder it is for the bees on the outside of the cluster to stay warm and move around, and the harder it is for the cluster to move as they follow their honey stores. We are grateful for those days of thaw in between the cold spells, where the bees can rotate their duties, warm up, and take a “cleansing” flight.

With another month of winter to go, we hope that there are not too many more prolonged cold spells, and that through Grace, Mother Nature, and their own efforts, they’ll make it through.

You can read more about winter clusters at The Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists