While I was feeding my fish in the backyard pond today, a few wasps zoomed by me. I've always been curious but have never actually known exactly where bees go or what bees do during the winter. Surely they're not out and about, I've never seen even one bee during the cold season. So I hit the books. I learned that different species of bees will behave differently during winter, so I stuck with the classic honeybee.
When temperatures fall, honeybees stay in their hives. Some bees will hibernate, but the workers form a huge "bee ball" surrounding their queen. The bee ball is constantly moving, with each bee vibrating his wing muscles to raise temperature. Heat is also generated by the oxidation of the honey that was produced during the warm season. This heat is then disbursed amongst the hive by the wing-fanning of worker bees. These methods warm the hive enough to keep it from freezing. The workers feed on the stored honey and can consume up to 30 pounds of it throughout the winter. And you thought honeybees are working so hard to supply us with honey? Think again, they are working hard to survive!
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