Nothing Much Happening...Waiting for Winter

  I am trying to be a smart beekeeper....so I let the honeybees be bees...most of the time! I try not to disturb them often. After all, they were roaming this beautiful Earth before us! Last time I saw them was about 3 weeks ago. They were preparing for the cold, applying propolis and wax in holes and crevices.The hives all had pails with sugar syrup, and they were drinking slowly. Of course since then, the temperatures have been low; as low as 21F! And this is a powerful signal to the bees that it is time to gather around the Queen, and to keep her warm.
  During this late-fall, the Queen has almost stopped laying eggs, the workers then don't have much brood rearing to do, but keep themselves and her Majesty warm and fed. Their only goal until spring is to survive with using minimal energy and food stored. The honeybees have to assess how much reserve they have and act consequently, otherwise they will all perish before the winter is over.
  As temperatures continue to drop, the bees are forming what is called a cluster, it is located over the  brood area which at this point very small, on purpose. The bees don't want to feed more mouths than they need.
  When the outside temperature is below 57F (14C), the cluster becomes tighter, more compact. By this "simple" ingenuity of clustering, the social honeybees are able to generate and conserve enough heat to survive the harsh weather, if they use their food wisely, and if they have enough supply.
   If you could insert your hand inside the cluster per se, you could feel the warmth radiates. The honeybees can maintain a temperature of 90F (32C) range regardless of the outside temperature! They have this gift of temperature "auto-regulation". They actually don't heat their hive, like we do for our house... no they use their bodies to generate the needed warmth for the whole colony of bees.
In addition to this extraordinary feat, overwintering bees are "different" physiologically than summer bees: they have more body fat reserve (not that I can see!), they live longer, they have little brood to feed, and are not has active either. They also possess larger hypopharyngeal glands (HG), those are long glands coiled in the sides of workers' heads producing proteins.

The winter bee cluster has a specific structure, it looks like the Russian wooden doll sets, which nest each doll in each other.




Left diagram: winter bee cluster viewed as if I opened the top cover and looked down.
    The orange center is at 26C/ 78.8F, this is were the precious queen is kept, as well as the small brood, enveloped by worker bees. Those bees are protected from the  harsh element at all time. They are warm and toasty, and can move about. Their job is to perform routine comb maintenance . The movement of the workers and the brood's generate enough warmth that they will use only a very small amount of winter stores.
  The yellow "ring, 14C/57.2F is where the bees generate the heat by moving their flight muscles, shivering.
The blue outer layer which is the zone for the insulating bees, reaches only 5C/41F. Those bees act as a blanket for the rest of them. It is about 2.5-7.5 cm/1-3" thick. The bees are very ingenious because they learned how to fill every space available to make a uniform thick protective shell. So they gather very, very closely, even occupying some empty cells, filling the spaces that are between frame as to make a homogeneous layer. Those bees are very cold and don't move but if disturbed could use all their energy and sting.

Another interesting point (well I think  it is anyway!) is the fact that the entire cluster will move upwards where the honey is located as the winter progresses. That's how well they communicate, they move as a big "mass".  At all time, a portion of the cluster has to be in contact with the reserved honey because this is the essential fuel eaten and needed to move their hind muscles generating the necessary heat.
Remember, their hive/house is not warm; only the ball of bees inside the first layer. Because bees are social insects, they all participate in the life of a colony (except the Queen...of course...some have to be privileged!) Therefore the outer bees rotate position, and actually go deeper inside, gathering warmth and a bit to eat; before resuming their insulating duties again. Bees never sleep; they rest, conserving all the energy they can in order to survive. How fascinating they are ;)

In the figure at right simply show how cold it is all around a cluster. Here you noticed the cluster is all the way up. This is when Spring is approaching and the reserved honey is almost all eaten. In the winter, the bees start on the bottom box, with honey-reserve on the upper box or boxes.

I still have one more visit to do before the end of November. In the meantime, stay warm!