Honey Bees In Winter

     Seems there is a fixation on the weather, especially around the Columbia Gorge region. Will the sun be shinning? Will it rain? Will it snow?

     Weather sites, weather news sites, the Hood River Weather (http://hoodriverweather.info/) and of course Temira’s (https://thegorgeismygym.com/forecast/) site all offer great insights.

     But, us humans have a fabulous brain, while insects only have a tiny brain designed to interact with their environment. Consider the insects’ brain size in comparison to humans. Which interacts with the surrounding environment better?

     Native bees (bumble bees, Carpenter Bees, Mason Bees and others) die off prior to the start of winter with the exception of their Queen, who hibernates over the cold months. She awakens at the magical sign past the winter months as the surrounding environment shifts in support of foliage, offering morsels of nectar and pollen for her offspring. Native Specialist Bees, such as the Squash Bee, only comes to life as the squash plants’ flowers come into bloom.

     The Native Bee gathers nectar and pollen sufficient to nutritionally support her offspring until the first batch matures into adulthood to assume the duty of foraging for food for their colony. Toward the end of the Native Bee specific species the Queen lays Queen eggs as well as Drone (male) eggs. Once the new virgin Queens are hatched, they mate with Drones of another colony to exit their hive in search of a new house to hibernate for the winter and emerge the following spring.

     The Honey Bee has a different path. The colony expands and contracts to meet their needs in unison with the seasonal changes of the environment. The winter population is around fifteen thousand while the spring nectar season finds a burgeoning population upwards of fifty thousand.

     The winter honey bee population’s purpose is to keep the queen warm in order for her to survive the winter climate. The Workers (female) cluster around the queen, creating heat sufficient to sustain ninety to ninety-two degrees temperature.

     The anatomy of the honey bee is relatively simple. Three major parts — head, thorax and body. The head houses the eyes, antennae and mouth parts. The thorax does not house lungs, as the bee does not have any, but rather four flight muscles — two vertical and two horizontal. The thorax is considered the ‘locomotion’ of the bee as it supports the wings and legs. The body, which has the stripes of yellow and black, offers the honey crop, mid- and hind-gut.

     The thorax is a hard, protective exoskeleton made of chitin (a hard shell similar to a beetle’s). The wings are not attached to the muscles but rather their movement is created from the flight muscle contractions which distort the exoskeleton, to cause the wings to move from their sockets.

     Air enters the bee’s body via spiracles (ten pair of holes in each side of the body) to be absorbed by tissue directly. The bee does not have a heart. Hemolymph (bee blood) moves through a singular artery to enter the tissue directly, similar to the air.

     The winter cluster begins its function at the lowest level of the hive. It moves in a rugby huddle scrum fashion upward through the morsels of honey stored in previous months. Honey is the energy source vital to the necessary creation of heat to sustain the Queen over the winter months.

     The flight muscles begin to contract in a rapid fashion to the point they no longer flex but shift into a vibration, articulating fifty thousand times per minute. This vibration creates a distortion of the exoskeleton which in turn creates heat.

     The bee’s hair links to the adjacent bee in the cluster to impede air from passing between. The exterior of the clusters one to two inches are ‘insulator bees,’ retaining heat inside the cluster and preventing heat from escaping. This is similar to penguins’ winter behavior.

     The colonies’ cluster begins to form as the ambient temperature drops below sixty degrees. It expands and contracts in unison with the ambient temperature’s rise and fall. Thus, our Gorge typical average temperatures ranging in the thirties, finds a tight formation. Yet, on those wondrous days of sun’s creation supporting temperatures rising above forty degrees, the cluster loosens.

     Honey bee colonies, comprised mostly of Workers (females) are fastidious by nature. Their bathroom habits are predominately right outside the entrance. This, of course, is challenging during winter periods, as the cold impedes their ability to fly and sustain life. But as temperatures rise above forty degrees you will find the girls scurrying out the entrance to take their potty break and immediately return. Similar to us humans on a camping trip as we find our bladders expanding painfully while our brains struggle to convince the bladder it is too cold. In the end, we succumb to the call of nature.

     Hopefully the winter survival of the honey bees biology and behavior stimulates your thoughts this winter toward the wonders of the nature we are blessed to be a part of here in the Columbia Gorge.

     Consider spending a few dollars toward Project Apis in support of their funding (https://www.projectapism.org/partners/#give).

The Columbia Gorge Beekeepers Association meets on the third Wednesday of each month, http://www.gorgebeekeepers.org/, at the Hood River Extension, 2990 Experiment Station at 6:00 PM. A different subject is presented by an Entomologists or experienced beekeeper. All are welcome. Visitors may attend in person or via Zoom. You may reach out to the club for login information - admin@gorgebeekeepers.org. You may also enjoy a visit to the Hood River Extension to view the three bee hives maintained by the Columbia Gorge Beekeeping Club and financially by the Hood River Master Gardeners, Klahre House and the Columbia Gorge Beekeepers Association.