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Winter in the Hive

West Plains Beekeepers Association

December 7, 2012

Jack Miller

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Topics:

  • Preparations for Success
  • Reasons for Failure
  • Winter Cluster Characteristics

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Preparations for Success

Consensus:

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  • Enough honey and pollen located correctly in hive

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  • Ventilated hive

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  • Enough bees

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  • Productive queen

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  • Take Winter loses in the Fall

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  • Room in the center for bees i.e. empty cells

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  • Protection from invaders (mice, etc.)

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  • Hive tilted slightly forward so water runs out

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  • Locate hive away from Spring water level

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Preparations for Success #2

Recommendations Generally Agreed To:

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  • Stores on the sides of the cluster in the bottom box and above the cluster in the top box

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  • Sheltered from the wind

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  • South facing for maximum sunlight

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  • Top entrance hole

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  • Accessible throughout the Winter

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������� Preparations for Success #3

Differences of Opinion:

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  • Need a colony covering 20 frames in a 2 story hive; 130 pound gross weight; 10 pounds of bees 18K - 35% 4.5K - 85%

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  • Minimum of 60 pounds of honey

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  • Equivalent of 4 frames of pollen

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  • Entrance NOT blocked with reducer for ventilation

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Reasons for Failure

Starvation

        • Run out of honey/food
        • Honey/food not where it is needed

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Lack of ventilation

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Too few bees to maintain cluster

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Over-management of hive

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Bee's digestive tract compacted

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Mites

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��� Infrared Hives

http://www.beebehavior.com/infrared_camera_pictures.php

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The Winter Cluster

Winter Bees

      • Larger hypopharyngeal glands
      • More body fat

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Size of Cluster is a Function of Temperature

      • +50 F 14 inches
      • +20 F 11 inches
      • -14 F 10 inches
      • -26 F 4 inches

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Heat Loss is Proportional to Cluster Size

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Shape is Oblong Sphere

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Internal Temperature 90 degrees F

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The Winter Cluster #2��Structure

  • The outside shell of bees or mantel is from 1 to 3 inches thick with the bees filling the spaces between the frames and empty cells.

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  • Inside the shell or core the bees are less tightly packed and warmer. They are able to move about and care for brood, queen and to perform maintenance

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  • The outside bees rotate with the inner bees based on hunger not temperature. Average 8 days with maximum of 16 days with a full honey stomach.

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  • Temperature regulation is by endothermic heat production in the core and insulation control by the mantel.

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  • It’s only the cluster temperature that is controlled by the bees – the hive temperature is close to outside temperature.

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The Winter Cluster #3� Temperature

  • Bees start to cluster at 57 degrees F

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  • Bees use winter stores most efficiently at 45 degrees F

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  • The lowest temperature the hive can survive depends on how many bees, how many stores, and duration of cold spell

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  • In moderate temperature the bees move honey closer to the interior of the cluster

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  • In colder temperatures the bees compact but must always maintain contact with honey stores

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  • Mantel temperature 48 – 57 degrees

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  • Core temperature 64 – 90 degrees.

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The Winter Cluster #4 �Bee Movement

  • Bees will organize the nest in preparation for Winter.

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  • During warm spells bees will move supplies to the cluster.

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  • Cluster will migrate toward the warm side of the hive when temperature is above 48 degrees.

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  • Cluster will follow the heat in the hive up, as supplies are consumed.

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  • Cluster size shrinks and expands in response to temperature.

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  • The inside of the hive is the same temperature as outside the hive.

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The Winter Cluster #5�Differences of Opinion

Too large a Fall cluster can be detrimental because the bees can go through their stores too rapidly

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Wrap hive for the winter

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Significant variations on bee behavior from one race of honey bee to another:

      • When they stop rearing brood
      • How large the winter cluster
      • How soon they begin rearing brood
      • How efficient they are with stores

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Medication and disease control

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Winter Schedule

  • August/September – Prepare hive for winter (location, stores, ventilation)

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  • October – Any further preparation such as additional feed

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  • November/ December – Check for use of feed only if weather permits; clear obstructed ventilation access as needed

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  • January -- Brood rearing starts in January as days lengthen; clear obstructed ventilation access as needed

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  • February/ March -- Colony inspections on first warm days in late February or March; clear obstructed ventilation access as needed

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Bibliography

  • ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture by A.I. Root

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  • Better Beekeeping by Kim Flottum

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  • Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping by Dewey M. Caron

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  • The Journal of Experimental Biology “Hot bees in empty broodnest cells: heating from within” by Marco Kleinhenz, Brigitte Bujok, Stefan Fuchs, and Jürgen Tautz

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  • Natural Beekeeping by Ross Conrad

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  • The Thermology of Wintering Honey Bee Colonies by CHARLES D. OWENS, Agricultural Engineering Research Division, Agricultural Research Service