From late fall to spring, honey bees rely upon the food stores available in the hive. If adequately prepared for winter, the colony will be given the best chance at surviving the cold winter months. Once spring arrives, the colony is already in full brood rearing mode, building up the population for the coming...
One of the key factors affecting colony loss is the presence of multiple pathogen and parasite loads, as well as the background levels of their infective agents within hive substrates, such as: wax, pollen, honey. Many pathogens can survive in hive substrate for multiple years, so beekeepers must adopt management practices that minimize disease spread....
On last month’s ‘Winter Bees and Clustering Behavior’ article we discussed the winter population demographics and how and when winter bees are produced. Here, we will talk about how the winter cluster works and what they do to keep the colony alive during the coldest months of the year! Honey bee colonies survive the winter...