It’s getting chillier. How are the bees enjoying their winter break?
They’re building igloo hotels from honeycomb.
Climbing the sugar slopes to ski downhill.
Relaxing on heated sunbeds to get a winter tan.
Bringing home gold-wrapped gifts from shopping malls for Christmas.
This autumn’s warm weather and unusual bee behaviour has puzzled beekeepers. Facebook beekeeper groups are abuzz with posts about bee activity; workers still foraging, queens still laying, drones still sighted. The hot topic: “Should I inspect my hive or not?” is dividing opinion between “This winter breaks all the rules” to “leave the bees alone”. Personally I would leave the bees to get on.
If I open a hive to find a queen cell or a virgin – how is she going to mate with fewer drones about? Hive combine, perhaps? But is the old queen still inside? These things are never straightforward in summer and in winter it’s often too late to fiddle with the bees.
The bees don’t worry. Does this bee look worried?
I think she may be a young worker from her fluffy coat, enjoying a brief rest from an orientation flight.
Beekeepers worry in winter because they have to leave the bees alone. The sight of bees flying out and about is a concern, because it means they are using up their winter stores to generate energy for all that increased activity. They are finding plenty of pollen to bring home, but are they finding enough nectar to replace the stores they are using? An Ealing beekeeper who keeps his hives at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew says the flowers there are continuing to bloom, so I’m hopeful that our bees will find forage too – closer to home.
This winter I am going to enjoy watching my bees, something I never have enough time to do in summer. Like surprising this bee by catching her in the less graceful yoga pose of ‘face-in-sugar with bum-in-air’.
What could be more fun for a bee than a winter coasteering adventure? Experiencing breathtaking honeycomb coastlines with towering cliffs, caves and jumps.
While beekeepers scratch their heads at the sight of bees enjoying an unseasonal winter break, the bees know winter is coming and they are making the most of the sun.
EDIT: What do beekeepers do on their winter break? Well, I’ve refreshed the website of my beekeeping association, Ealing and District Beekeepers, to tell people who we are, what we do and where to find us. If you’re in London next summer, check out how to visit. I’m never far from a bee book most of the year and spend much of winter buried in them. My winter study posts about bees will start again soon.
I’ve also refreshed my blog pages with a new blog index to find more easily posts about beekeeping, bumble bees and solitary bees, nature and wildlife, aromatherapy, travelling, photography and more. There’s an updated About me page and I’ll be bringing out new pages about beekeeping and aromatherapy with useful downloads, and an updated blog roll directory over the winter months.
Mrs Apis Mellifera 
Great pictures. It was unusually warm here until this weekend so I’m a little worried about my own bees. But I’ve been doing what I think are the right things–mostly just leaving them alone–so here’s to trusting them to know what to do for themselves on their winter break.
Thanks! Less beekeeping to do means more time to take photos – the bees have been accommodating photoshoots on the roof and as they fly home. I may eat my own words in spring – this autumn is unusual and no one really knows what to do, we’re all guessing – but I’d like to trust my bees and hope for the best. I hope your bees are enjoying their winter break too.
Great photographs. I never knew bees took up so many activities in winter! I’ll have to keep my eyes open. Amelia
They get up to all sorts! Though I love the shenanigans at your bee hotels!
I’m pretty sure I should know this question, but do bees hibernate during the winter?
That’s a good question. Bees don’t hibernate as such, as it gets colder they cluster into a ball around the queen to keep warm. They slow down, shivering their wings to stay warm and moving in and out of the cluster, taking turns. They eat their honey stores and take occasional flights outside to, erm, relieve themselves!
Thanks Emma, Thats quite fascinating 🙂
Welcome 😉
Great post, Emma, with fantastic pictures (as always!).
I’m feeding my bees and leaving the crown boards firmly in place…
Sara x
Thanks Sara and congrats again on your honey show success. I was reminded on Saturday there are still wasps after our bees’ honey when taking the roof off Pepper’s hive to top up the feeder. A wasp flew in and down the hole in the crownboard, landing on the top bars. Before I could fish her out, three of Pepper’s bees rolled her over and pumelled her with headbutts and stings. The wasp was off! Yep, definitely keeping crownboards on! 😉
Ha ha! I love Pepper’s bees!
They’re bruisers alright. Headbutting hornet flies and wasps!
And in one of the pictures, do I detect a distinct hint of twerking?Maybe they are twerker bees? RH
Twerking? My bees are twerking? Where? I could make a fortune on YouTube! EST
Absolutely splendiferous read. I’m loving the yoga pose and why shouldn’t they have fun on the slopes, love them. I think your bees are very happy.
Yes, I think you can tell when bees are happy and these are very happy bees this autumn. Not worried or fretting like their keepers!