Volume 2 -------------------- February 5, 2011 --------------------Number 11
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What Do Dead Bees In The Snow Mean?
by David Burns, EAS certified Master Beekeeper
While bees are quite capable of surviving the winter, it can be a stressful time for colonies.
During the winter when bees are closed up in their hives, they cannot do what bees need to do, fly,
gather nectar, consume fresh pollen and nectar and defecate regularly outside the hive.
On the first, not so cold winter day, the bees will break cluster, fly out and finally defecate outside
the hive after holding it for weeks and sometimes months. These are called cleansing flights and are
very important for the hive to remain healthy. The further north, the fewer days when cleansing flights
can occur. Most hives will take these flights at temperatures much below foraging temperatures. The
bees simply make a quick flying around and return to the hive.
During these cleansing flights, house cleaning bees may also take advantage of the nice day and begin
carrying out the bees that have died during the winter months. Dead bees laying outside a winter hive often alarms new beekeepers. New beekeepers
fear the worst when they spot dead bees and begin wondering if the whole hive is doomed. However, this is a normal activity that occurs throughout
the winter and early part of spring. After a snow, it becomes more apparent, not because there are more dead bees, but because the snow make dead
bees easier to see. That same number of bees would not be noticeable without the snow.
Why do bees die in the winter? First, bees are aging. Most spring and summer bees can live to be around 35 days old. However, bees born in the last
fall can live several months through the winter because they have fatter bodies and have not exhausted their glandular secretions, nor warn themselves
out foraging like a bee during the summer. Yet, winter bees often still die of old age in late winter.
There are other maladies which can cause bees to die during the winter. The most common causes of individual bees dying in a colony are: starvation,
disease, cold and pests.
Starvation. The winter cluster will move gradually to always be in the proximity of stored honey and pollen. Long, cold winters can result in the depletion
of stored resources of food for the colony. It is not uncommon to examine a colony that died during the winter and discover the dead colony not too far
away from stored honey. Yet, they still starved. It was too cold for the bees to move into the stored honey.
Also, once the queen begins laying eggs in mid to late winter, the cluster will remain on the brood to keep it warm and will sometimes consume all food
sources near the brood. They are faced with a choice to abandon the brood and move to stored food, or keep the brood warm. Usually the cluster
will remain on the brood and starve to death. If the weather had warmed up prior to depletion of food, they could have sent other bees into the stored
honey and carried it back down to the brood area.
How do you know if a colony starved to death? Bees will be head first in cells, attempting to stay warm and eating the last drop of honey out of the
bottom of cells.
Disease. Nosema is hard on the winter cluster because Nosema is worse when bees are confined and cannot defecate. Nosema is a gut disease so it is
most deadly during late winter. If the Nosema level was high in late fall, this can cause bees to perish during the winter and early spring. However,
spring can quickly bring Nosema under control as the bees are able to fly, gather nectar and defecate regularly outside the hive.
Cold. While the winter cluster moves gradually upward into the stored honey, some bees may drift too far within the hive, away from the heat of the
cluster and freeze. Bees do not heat the entire inside of the hive, but only the area within the cluster of bees. This is especially true on warm winter days
that suddenly turn cold. Inside the hive, the winter cluster breaks up on warmer days and bees begin to search for stored honey on other frames within
the hives. But, at the sudden drop of temperature the colony sometimes cannot re- form into a tight cluster. Bees might be stranded to freeze to death
outside of the cluster. Or the colony may become divided into several clusters, each too small to produce the heat needed to withstand the rapidly
dropping temperature.
Pests. Varrora and Trachea mites are extremely hard on the winter cluster and can lead to bees dying. These pests need to be controlled during the
summer and early fall to reduce the infestation level.
Even though starvation, disease, cold and pests can kill winter bees, do not assume that your bees have a problem just from dead bees in the snow.
It is normal to see large amounts of dead bees throughout the winter. Dead bees accumulate on the bottom board and around the outside of the hive.
Most hives will quickly clean out the dead bees once spring arrives, but if you want to speed up their work, you can clean out the dead bees from the
bottom board. Remember, there is nothing you can do to help your bees once they have clustered and it is cold. Feeding bees candy can help if they
are starved, but you can only open the hive briefly and can never pull out a frame until it reaches 67 degrees (f) outside.
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Bess In The News....
One More Strike Against Honey Bees, USDA Approved GMO Alfalfa...READ MORE
Documentary Explores Massive Bee Die-Offs...Read More
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Give us a call at: 217-427-2678 to get yours while they last!
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217-427-2678
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Look At Our Upcoming Beekeeping Classes:
March 4th (Friday night 6-8pm Pest & Diseases: Diagnosis & Prevention CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
March 19th (Saturday) Basic Beekeeping 9am - 3pm CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
May 14th (Saturday) QUEEN REARING COURSE 9am - 3pm CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
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BEE SMART is free and comes right to your email inbox. We'll be relying on you
telling your friends about BEE SMART and passing it along to others.
..................................................................................................................
Bee Smart is a publication of
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
14556 N 1020 E Rd
Fairmount, IL 61841
(217) 427-2678
www.honeybeesonline.com
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms is here to serve the beekeeping community with beekeeping equipment, 3 lb packages, nucs, queens and more.
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