As the temperatures falls throughout the UK and there is little or no food available in the usual foraging areas, people often wonder, how do honey bees survive? Do they hibernate?
Unlike other insects and animals, bees don’t actually hibernate in the cold months; they are “active” all winter long. As the weather gets colder, the bees will start preparing for winter.
Queen Bee Survival During Winter
During the winter, the worker bees have one goal: protecting the queen until the warmth of spring. As the colony comes to the conclusion that the season is coming to an end all the male bees are kicked out to die. As no virgin queens will be created they are just extra mouths to feed during the winter.
Once temperatures reach around 13°C, the worker bees will begin to cluster around the queen. The colder the temperatures get the tighter the cluster will become – almost like huddling together for warmth. To warm the cluster, the workers vibrate their wing muscles – an action that burns calories and gives off heat – to increase the hive temperature and keep the queen warm. They rotate the duty of being on the outside so that everyone can have a chance to stay warm and not get worn out.
The cluster of warm Bees will keep the bees themselves along with the all-important queen warm and well-fed until spring comes around and the whole cycle of the colony can begin again.
Keeping The Hive Warm
The cluster of bees will move around the hive and eat honey to fuel their warmth-creating activities. Clustered bees need a constant supply of food, hence stored honey. If the cluster loses contact with the stored honey, the bees can quickly starve due to the energy needed to create the warmth. This is why sustainable Honey farming is so important.
The bees will remain in this cluster pattern around the hive to find stores of honey until the temperature begins to increase in spring. The only exception to this is warm winter days when the so called “cleansing flights” take place.