Honey bees in the temperate region spend the
majority of the winter inside the hive, clustered together for warmth. The
colder the temperature, the tighter the bees cluster together. On warmer days,
the bees expand their cluster and move around inside the hive. On these warm
days, the bees uncap cells of stored honey and share the honey among the
clustered colony. When the hive cools at night, the bees constrict to a tight
cluster, pulling away from the available stored honey. The cluster always covers
hive frames that contain brood, warming and protecting the fragile developing
bees. If the temperature remains cold for an extended period of time, the
tightly clustered bees are left at a distance from their stored honey. This can
easily lead to starvation; the bees run out of food while there may be ample
food merely inches away.
It is common in the Mid-South to have a brief period
of warm weather in the middle of the winter. During this “January thaw,” the
bees are able to fly from the hive to make cleansing flights in which they
defecate. Bees eliminate their body waste in flights outside the hive. This
winter has seen somewhat erratic weather. This warm weather has given
beekeepers an opportunity to make brief examinations of their hives. Quite a
few beekeepers are finding larger than normal numbers of colonies have died as
a result of starvation. Bee hive starvation is easily identified by finding a
considerable number of dead bees with their bodies located inside the cells,
head first as in today’s photo. The queen can be seen in the center. A number
of Mid-South beekeepers found similar starvation situations. Each beekeeper
distributed the surplus honey from the dead hives to living hives. There is
still a considerable amount of winter awaiting the bees before spring flowers
supply the bees with food. In the meantime, beekeepers can supply emergency
feeding by pouring dry sugar onto the hives’ inner covers.
--Richard
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