I’ve been asked a few times Do Bees Hibernate in the Winter? I’ve also heard members of the public claim in Erddig that they do. The reality is they do not. While the hive may see a massive reduction in numbers, there are still bees in the hive and they are moving about. The main function of the main product that we take from the bees, honey, is there to see the bees through the winter and back into spring.
Essentially bees can’t fly when the temperature drops below a certain level (I assume the cells which power their wing muscles need a certain amount of energy for enzymic reactions etc) and even if they did, there are not many flowers out there in the depths of winter for them to get. Couple this with rain, snow, harsh winds and freezing temperatures – I don’t blame the bees for staying in their hives during winter.
Although we don’t see many of them, bees do however come out in the colder months. There are flowers which they can get access too and in the video below which was taken early March 2018 when the sun hit the hive – there’s bees coming and going.
The white stuff is fondant icing which I thought I’d try and feed the bees with to see if they liked it. They did.