When creating a winter bee it is the relatively low level of protein fed to the larvae that kick up the production of fat bodies and the compound vitellogenin, a glycolipoprotein with properties of sugar, fat and protein that give nurse and winter bees a greater immune system and allows winter bees to consume and dispense nutrients that aren’t readily available in the hive or the field. When creating a queen it is the lack of pollen and nectar and the surplus of royal jelly fed to the young larvae that allows the ovaries to fully develop and creates a distinctly different bee. The process the bees use to develop these specialized workers is similar to the process used to create a queen bee (or rather, the process that separates the development of a queen from a worker). There will be no other chances to increase the winter bee population, if they miss this small window or for any reason they are unable to create a sufficient amount of these “fat bees”, the colony is on borrowed time. This period of winter bee rearing is probably the most important few weeks of the bee year. These are bees with enlarged fat bodies that allow survival for months on honey or sugar alone and even give the bee the ability to produce protein rich brood food in an absence of fresh pollen. One of the more amazing changes that happen to a bee colony entering the winter months is the development of “winter bees”. The cracks and crevices that once provided cooling ventilation are now tightly sealed with propolis and the drones that were so pivotal to the local area’s bee propagation are now deemed unnecessary and are unceremoniously kicked out. The brood nest gets smaller, the honey stores, once relegated to the outer friames and high above the brood nest now invade the brood frames making each frame heavy with energy rich carbohydrates. HOW BEES DEAL WITH WINTERĪs the days get colder and the nights grow longer the bees start preparing themselves for the long, cold winter. That leads us to one of the most important questions a beekeeper can ask, “How do I overwinter my bees?”įirst let’s look at what the bees do naturally during cold periods and winters, to make sure that nothing we do to help them gets in the way or impedes their natural methods. That being said, the bees have been preparing for winter all year and at this point each action you take can have drastic effects. Shoveling, scraping, salting and freezing is what I have to look forward to until the Maples and Willows start producing pollen in March. It’s already September? Where did the time go? It seems each bee year passes more quickly than the last, and now that the leaves are starting to turn colors here in West Michigan, I have to start dreading the cold half of the year.
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