Hopefully, your bees have made it this far and are clustered for the cold.  They had a little break for the last couple of days, and should have been able to get out and take a cleansing flight and also remove any dead bees from the hive.  So, you may see some “bodies” on the landing board or in front of the hive.  This is a good thing, as someone cared enough to take out the trash.

Last night the temperature dropped again and the bees went back into cluster.  The bees on the outside of the cluster act as insulation for the bees in the middle who vibrate their largest muscles, their flight muscles, without moving their wings, to create heat.  The queen is in the middle of the cluster.  The cluster expands and contracts with the exterior temperature to regulate the heat.  When bees get a little too warm, they move out to the shell and the bees at the shell move in a little bit.

Of course, they can’t do all this shivering without having energy, in the form of carbohydrates, or honey/sugar. The cluster forms in the area where there is empty cells in the comb.  Sometimes this is the middle, but, often it is toward one side of the hive, where the sun hits and makes it a little warmer.  The cluster then eats its way UP, through the stores.  On a day they can move about due to warmer temperatures during the day, like the previous two days, they can reposition the cluster and also reach stores that are toward the sides.

During the winter, there is usually a broodless period when the queen will stop laying.  It can be a few weeks or as long as 2 months.  During this time, the temperature in the cluster center is kept about 64 degrees F.  This is warm enough to keep the bees alive and moving in the center, but, not warm enough for brood to thrive.  This period is usually in December and into January.  During January or February (usually January on Long Island) the queen will start laying, as the days get a little longer (winter solstice was December 21).  When this happens, the temperature in the center of the cluster, where the queen and the brood are, will be kept at 93 degrees F, give or take a half degree.  This takes an enormous amount of energy, and the use of stores will go up.  The bees also need bee bread, pollen, or a source of protein (think Pollen Substitute patties) to feed the brood.  Most hives will have stored pollen in the fall.  But sometimes, this pollen can be depleted before new pollen is available in the Spring.  When this happens, the bees will cut back on brood by either consuming the eggs as the queen lays them, or the queen simply lays less.

Because of this, giving a pollen patty or part of one to each colony in February can often increase the rate of build-up and set them up for a successful honey production season.

If you want to read a little more about the winter cluster, go to this link for the American Bee Journal and read this article by Wyatt A. Mangum from 2016.  https://americanbeejournal.com/winter-clusters-seen-colors-heat/

All this heating the cluster is dependent on having sufficient stores in the hive where the bees can access them.  if you peek into the top of the hive early in the morning before it has warmed up, and see the bees right under the inner cover, they may have worked their way through their stores and need to be fed!  Feeding at this time of year is best done with a more solid food.  If you put away a box of honey, nectar or frames filled with sugar water in the fall, this is the best winter food.  If not, winter patties, candy boards, fondant, or sugar on a square of newspaper, are the best alternatives now.  Make sure you put any food UNDER the inner cover, right on the top bars.  The space above the inner cover is cold and not always accessible to the bees. and only a handful of bees can reach it through the vent hole. You want the food in contact with as many bees as possible.  A shim (shaped like a box, but only about 2 inches high) may be useful to create space to put this food on the top bars.  Place it under your inner cover on top of the top box.  Or if you have a deep enough inner cover, reversing it may be all you have to do to create space.  When in doubt, feed them!

A good winter beekeeping task is to re-read the section in your beekeeping book on Spring management.  This will get your head in the game for what is coming up.  Maybe you even got a new bee book for Christmas.  Reading it will keep your brain engaged in your bees and inspire you to prepare for Spring.

Now is the perfect time to look through the equipment you have stored, take inventory and make sure you have what you need for a honey flow in the Spring.  You need to have 3 boxes of frames minimum for each over-wintered hive, so you can super them in time to prevent swarming.  More is good.  And, extra bottom boards, inner covers, and outer covers to hive splits or swarms are always useful. A set up for a nuc or two is also good in case you want to make a split.  Did you make splits last year?  Or, hive a swarm or two?  Do you still have extra equipment or did you use it all up?  Plan a season ahead.  Don’t wait to make an order until everyone else that is desperate does, and then it takes a week to ship or, worse yet, the stuff is back ordered.

Lastly, what if you have a “dead-out”.  Sad.  But, it happens to the best beekeepers.  Get that equipment secured and stored safely as soon as possible.  DON’T leave it for Spring when moths can move in and destroy that valuable resource, drawn comb. Clean it up, freeze it (or let it get frozen), wrap it and store it away.  Paramoth or Certan can be used to make sure wax moths don’t move it if you are not sure you got all the eggs.  Cold storage is good if it is “tight”.

Hoping all this got your brains working and you have a great “down” season getting ready for Spring!  Wishing you all the best in the New Year and hope we can gather safely soon!  Stay safe and healthy!  –Grace