In our recent Snippet, “Preparing Honeybee Colonies for Winter” we touched on the population changes that occur in a honeybee colony during the fall and winter months, specifically the production of “Winter Bees”.
Though we introduced you to the topic of winter bees, there’s a lot more that can be said about this fascinating way that honeybees adapt to the cold weather to be able to survive through the winter months, even in colder climates.
What Makes a Winter Bee So Special?
The concept of ‘winter bees’ is a truly fascinating one. To help them survive cold temperatures and overwinter successfully, honeybees have adapted in an amazing way. Winter bees are still honeybees, but they’re different from summer bees in many ways. Let’s talk about what makes them so special.
Key Characteristics
Unlike typical ‘summer’ honeybees that will only live for 4-6 weeks, ‘winter bees’ have changed their physiological makeup to allow them to live for several months.
Winter bees are produced between the end of summer to early fall months to help bees prepare to overwinter. Their longevity and ability to live for months at a time are integral to adding warmth to the cluster & helping sustain the colony.
They’re also a bit different than summer bees since their main job is to help keep the cluster warm. They work together with the other winter bees in the colony to vibrate their wing muscles to generate and conserve heat. This process is known as “shivering thermogenesis” and helps the colony to focus on different tasks through the cold months, like conserving energy, helping the cluster move toward honey stores, and protecting the queen.
Honeybees begin to cluster together once temperatures reach around 50 degrees (F). But even when outside temperatures drop dramatically, winter bees help to thermoregulate the cluster and keep the queen at the center safe, keeping the core between 93-97 degrees (F).
Physical Differences
Though the physical differences between summer and winter bees aren’t visible to the naked eye, they are definitely there! Winter bees have larger fat bodies. No, this doesn’t mean they are fatter than ‘summer’ bees… “fat bodies” are specialized tissues in a bee’s body that store protein, other nutrients, and of course, fat.
Fat bodies in winter bees work as a nutritional reserve, allowing winter bees additional energy sources when there are no foraging resources available. Winter bees also have a slower metabolism compared to bees born at other times of year, adding to their ability to conserve energy.
Winter bees also have higher levels of a special protein that aids in their longer lifespan and helps support their immune function. This protein is called “Vitellogenin” and helps to make winter bees much more resilient than their summer counterparts.
How Winter Bees are Produced
Each year, toward the end of summer, honeybees recognize the decreasing daylight combined with dropping temperatures and realize winter is on its way.
As the colony realizes cold weather is incoming, the queen will slow down egg-laying. The result is a change in pheromones inside the hive that signals the need to have an increased focus on the production of winter bees instead.
To ensure any new brood will emerge as winter bees, nurse bees will feed the developing brood a diet different from that of a ‘summer’ bee. The diet is much richer in proteins and nutrients taken primarily from their pollen sources. This is what raises a winter bees’ fat bodies and vitellogenin levels and gives them increased longevity and more resilience.
Other Important Fall & Winter Population Considerations
As honeybee colonies prepare for winter and increase production of winter bees, the queen’s egg-laying will slow down and eventually stop until spring and higher temperatures, and foraging resources, arrive again.
When this happens, beekeepers often note a spike in varroa mite populations, especially those that are ON honeybees. Since brood cells are no longer as available for mites to hide out and reproduce in, more mites will be inside the hive moving from bee to bee.
Once winter bees emerge, varroa mites can become a severe threat. Mites weaken bees significantly as they feed on their fat bodies and can transmit viruses that further weaken winter bees and the colony overall. A heavy mite infestation in the late summer or fall moths can significantly impact the health and production of winter bees.
Use this time of changing honeybee populations to test for varroa mites, and complete a mite treatment, if necessary, before bees head into winter! Learn more about the mite treatments available and choose the right treatment based on your colony’s status here.
Do “winter bees” exist in warmer climates?
In warmer climates, like Florida or Texas, the idea of winter bees in a honeybee hive is a little bit different than in more northern, colder climates.
Though the production of “winter bees” in places where temperatures are warmer and clustering isn’t as integral to a colony’s success, there are still some adaptations to honeybees.
Bees may continue to produce brood and new bees will emerge throughout the colder months, but production is often significantly reduced. The bees that do emerge during this period may have longer lifespans to help the colony get through times when foraging resources aren’t available, but not as long as their northern counterparts.
In the northern climates, honeybees must go months without foraging resources and adapt to ensure their survival during this time. Since the timeframe between foraging resources is much less in warmer climates, winter bees in the south aren’t as physiologically or as physically different than at any other time of year.
Bees in warmer climates are still affected by some seasonal changes during the winter months, though. Beekeepers in warmer climates may not have true “winter bees” but should still be prepared to keep an eye on their bees through the winter months. Ensure to keep an eye on things like their food stores, pest management and varroa mite testing and treatments, and possibly even being prepared to add insulation in case of sudden drops in temperature.
The Importance of Winter Bees
No matter where you keep your bees, the amazing adaptation of a honeybee to seasonal changes is a truly amazing thing to consider. What bees do to change their physical bodies and behaviors so that they’ll survive through the cold is truly awe-inspiring.
In colder climates, the production and health of “Winter Bees” inside a hive are crucial to increasing the colony’s chances of survival. As beekeepers, it’s our job to do all that we can to help them with these changes before winter arrives. If we can do that, our colonies can continue to adapt and evolve into stronger and more resilient honeybees.
Learn More
Check out some of our free learning resources below that are related to winter bees and overwintering honeybees, plus some products (available in the PerfectBee Store) that you may want to consider picking up before the cold weather arrives.
- Preparing Honeybee Colonies for Winter – This snippet touches on the importance of winter bees and what you can do as their keeper to help them get ready for cold weather.
- The Beekeeper’s Role in Avoiding Colony Starvation – It’s important for a beekeeper to know how many food stores their colony should have, as well as when and how to intervene when needed. Starvation is one of the leading causes of colony death during the winter months, so it can really help to learn through this article about avoiding colony starvation.
- A New Beekeeper’s Journal – A Fall Checklist – This blog post details what to consider in the fall and gives you an idea of tasks you might want to complete.
- A New Beekeeper’s Journal – Cooler Weather and the Beekeeper – More on what to consider as the cold weather begins and what you should be doing in your bee yard.
- Mite Treatments and Winter Hive Activity – Find out more in this blog post about winter hive activity and completing mite treatments in the colder months.
- Winterizing Beehives – There are plenty of ways a beekeeper can help their colonies be ready for the cold of winter. Find out more about what you can do to your hive setup to help keep bees more comfortable in the cold.
- Winter or Pollen Patties? – Winter patties are a great (and easy) way to add supplemental feed to your colonies, but why is that? Find out more in this blog that goes into more detail on when you’d choose winter patties or pollen patties.
- Beehive Insulation for the Winter – Though a beehive is meant to mimic a natural beehive environment (typically a tree trunk), the thickness of hive bodies isn’t always enough to successfully prevent hives from getting too cold or drafty. Learn more about insulating hives in this post.
Free Printable Resources
Our Collaborator, Marta, used her years of beekeeping experience to create some amazingly helpful printable resources that you can use in your beehives to plan ahead and keep track of colony statistics and details.
Please note, that the timelines in these resources are geared toward the Northeastern US. Times may need to be adjusted based on where you keep your bees!
- Beehive Inspection Checklist – Use this checklist to learn more about what you should be seeing in your hives as well as what you actually ARE seeing! Keeping good beehive records, especially during the fall months, can be integral to your colonies’ success.
- New England Beekeeping Calendar – Though this resource is geared toward New England, the facts and features can be useful to beekeepers anywhere. Plus, it gives you the perfect place to make note of what’s happening in your hives and when and look back at when making future beekeeping decisions.
Hive Winterizing and Related Products – Available in the PerfectBee Store
- Winter Patties – As mentioned above, winter patties are a great way to add emergency feed to your hives. They may not be available until mid-October, so keep an eye out and stock up so you’ve got feed ready when your bees need it!
- Vinyl Hive Wrap – This hive wrap is easy to use and effective at keeping the cold and wind from getting inside your beehive.
- Bee Cozy Hive Wrap – Another great option for keeping bees warmer in winter, the bee cozy hive wrap slides over your entire hive setup and the thick insulation helps to keep the hive warm and draft-free.
- 10-Frame Wooden Hive Top Feeder – Perfect for heavy 2:1 sugar syrup or winter patties, the 10-frame wooden hive top feeder is an excellent fall and winter feeding tool.
- Mouse Guard – In the winter months while bees are tight together in their cluster and unable to chase out intruders, some mice find beehives to be a safe place with a built-in pantry full of honey. Keep them, and other pests, out of your hives with this mouse guard.
- Ultimate Robbing Screen – Robbing can be an issue far into the fall months. Keep bees’ stresses low by adding a robbing screen to keep pests OUT!
- Langstroth Cedar Entrance Reducer – Reducing your hive’s entrance can help keep pests out, but in the winter months it can also help keep the cold and wind from getting inside.
- 10-Frame Insulated Foam Board or 8-Frame Insulated Foam Board – Add an insulating foam board to your hive to decrease moisture and increase hive insulation, making it so bees don’t have to work quite as hard to keep themselves warm and safe.
- BeeSmart Insulated Inner Cover – This inner cover is specifically designed to help with insulation and airflow inside your beehive. Give bees an extra layer of warmth by adding it to your setup.
- BeeSmart Inner/Outer Cover Combo – Want to add an inner and outer cover that can help with ventilation and insulation? Upgrade your hive setup by adding the BeeSmart Insulated Inner Cover and Ultimate Outer Cover combo today.
- Varrox Oxalic Acid Vaporizer – The winter months provide a beekeeper the perfect opportunity to treat hives with Oxalic Acid using a vaporizer.
- Insulated Outer Cover – Made of high-quality materials, this insulated outer cover has a layer of insulation built right in. Simply switch out your current cover for this one and add a layer of insulation to the top of your hives.
- Slatted Rack – Slatted racks are an excellent tool for helping keep your colonies cool in the summer and warmer in the winter. They work by creating an air gap that keeps temperatures toasty in the winter months by creating a barrier against cold air. Learn more about using slatted racks in our article here, too.
Colony Member Resources
Member-Only Academy Lessons
Colony members, check out the member-only Academy lessons below to learn all about winterizing your hives and what honeybees have to do to get through the winter months.
- Fat Honeybees And The Winter Cluster – Dive even further into the topic of ‘fat bees’ and how honeybees cluster during the winter.
- How Bees Manage Temperature and Moisture – Bees are incredible creatures and work together to get the temperature and moisture levels inside their hive to be just right. Learn more about the amazing ways they do that in this lesson.
- An Introduction to Overwintering Honeybees – This lesson gives you even more details on how to successfully overwinter a honeybee colony.
- Preparing for Deep and Long Winters – Those of us in cold climates can relate to how difficult it is not just for bees to get through the winter months but for the beekeeper too! Find out more about getting through the cold months in this lesson.
- An Introduction to Feeding Honeybees – Feeding bees can be absolutely crucial during certain parts of the year. Find out more about feeding bees in this lesson.
Colony Forum Posts
The Colony Forum is a great way for Colony members to discuss their concerns and get insights and guidance from other members and our experienced PerfectBee Ambassadors.
Colony members, check out some of the discussion threads below to learn more about overwintering your honeybee colonies.
- Getting ready for winter
- Winterizing my hives
- Leave 2 full honey supers on for winter?
- Winter honey stores
- Getting ready for winter and wet weather
- Feeding winter patties
- Opening the hive in winter to feed the bees?
- Preparing for winter
- Winter is here already!
- Pleasant mid winter showing!
- Feeding honey in winter
- When is it ok to remove the winter protection?
- Time for our bees to test our patience
- Update on my predicament
Colony Cluster Events with Discussions on Winter Prep
Our live Colony Cluster events are also a great way for members to connect with our Ambassadors and members alike to get their questions answered and share their beekeeping stories.
Colony members, you can check out all our previous Colony Cluster event recordings anytime from your Colony Dashboard here!
Below are a few Cluster recordings where we focused the discussion on winter preparations and helping bees produce healthy “Winter Bees”. Log in to your Colony account to check them out at the links below!
Are you not yet a Colony member but want to access our member-only content, like the interesting discussions had in the Colony Forum and our Cluster events, plus our in-depth Academy lessons listed above?
Now’s the perfect time to learn more about honeybees and beekeeping through these, and so many more, member-only benefits available with a Colony membership. Head to our Colony landing page here to learn about all that’s included and to sign up today!
