That’s A Wrap

If you happen to come across bee hives this time of year, they tend to look a little different! Most, at least here in Canada, will be wrapped, either singling or as a group. This is a beekeeper's way of ‘tucking’ her bees in for the winter.

Honey Bee hives are wrapped, or insulated, in the fall with hopes of increasing their chance of winter survival. Honey bees are warm-blooded and need all the help they can get to stay warm during our long, cold winters.

After the beekeeper has done his part, those worker bees are left to do the rest. The queen honey bee needs to be kept warm (about 30^oC) and alive so she can lay eggs for the new spring workforce.

So, what exactly are those worker bees doing in there?

They are going to cluster around their queen. The workers closest to her will flex their wing muscles to create body heat to keep her warm. The workers rotate through the cluster eventually ending up on the outside. Here they will stack their bodies and seal the cluster between the combs trapping the heat in the cluster. The temperature at the edge of the cluster will be around 10^oC. A little chilly for our heat loving bees! After a bit of a break, they head back into the center of the cluster and start all over again.

It’s critical that enough honey has been stored (and left by the beekeeper) to provide fuel for the worker bees. There also needs to be enough pollen in the hive for worker bees to consume and create royal jelly to feed to their queen.

Once the temperatures drop, and the bees go into a cluster in their hive, you may not see them again until spring. Each worker is capable of spending months in the hive without going on a ‘relief’ flight. I think, by the end of the winter, they have all six legs crossed!

This is a tough time for a beekeeper, as winter it is a time to wait and hope.