Our hives in winter

In winter the bees fly much less. At the moment we only see a few bees flying on a warmer day. The queen stops laying eggs and the jobs of the worker bees changes – they now have to make sure the hive survives the winter by keeping eachother warm. To keep warm they vibrate (like shivering) and produce heat this way. They form a ball with the most important bee – the queen – in the middle. The workers take turns being on the outside and keeping everyone warm and being on the inside of the ball and recovering from their work. Over the winter the bees, especially on rainy days, stay in the hive. For that time we leave honey in the hive, which they consume over time.

To protect the hive from the environment, they need to be tilted a little so the rain doesn’t go inside and flood the hive. The bees put propolis in places where they feel draft coming in. To help the bees we put “yard sign boards” for insulation (which we bought and cut to size) to keep the draft out of the hive.

We put heavy bricks on the roof of the hive, to prevent it from being blown off. The heavy stones are there all year, as it can be quite windy in any season.