(1) Yes, it's probably the undertaker bees dumping bodies outside. In the
cold weather they can't fly far so they just chuck 'em out the front door.
You might see 10 or more if they haven't been out for a few days. Quite
likely there are more on the soul, where they"re hard to see. Another issue
is that it is very tricky for the bees to drag bodies through a mouse
guard, so sometimes by the end of winter there are several hundred bodies
inside the hive which the bees eject when they can. Some colonies are more
hygienic than others...
(2) Another phenomenon in winter is that bees are sometimes tricked into
emerging from the hive on bright days, typically when there is snow around
to increase the ambient brightness. Yes, they CAN fly if they warm
themselves to 8C in the sun; but then if they land on a cold object they
are paralysed by cold and never return to the hive. (Black Bee fans claim
their cold-adapted strain rarely does this. I know of one Finnish beekeeper
using Italians and Carniolans who sometimes loses a lot of bees this way. I
don't think it's a major issue in the UK.)
So sometimes those dead bees aren't dead. Pop them in your warm hand,
breathe on them if brave, and they revive!
On this subject, people sometimes get shocked when they see a pile of dead
bees in summer. They overlook that the queen can lay 2,000 eggs a day and
those bees only live a few weeks. In summer, 200 dead bees outsde the
entrance might well be a minor poisoning incident but not a major problem
for a large colony. 200 bees is only a couple of hours' laying for the
queen.
Paul
On Sun, 27 Jan 2019, 16:17 Michael King <kingmichael845@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
Hi,
We have two, treatment-free nationals, both populated from local swarms.
We don't feed the bees. So, following the advice of the group, we have
super-insulated the hives with cork.
Both are doing well, and the bees have been flying throughout the winter
on warmer days.
However today, both hives had quite a large number of dead bees on the
ground in front of them.
I have sniffed the hive entrances (my test for everything!) Both smell as
they should, so I don't suspect anything too serious. A guard bee even
popped out of one to take a look at my nose!
But, if I wondered if anyone had any thoughts on what is happening. (I
have ask out of interest, rather than any intention to intervene.)
My hypothesis is that the attrition rate has perhaps increased inside the
hive because of the recent, severe cold snap we have had here (Leamington
Spa), and the bodies have simply been cleared out of the hive. Is that
plausible?
Best regards,
Mick and Kathryn King
On Sat, 26 Jan 2019, 14:37 Gareth John, <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
For those of a technical bent, here
<https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsif.2018.0879> is
Derek Mitchell’s new paper on hive thermal efficiency and honey yield.
The take home message is the better insulated the hive, the greater the
honey yield, which is good for the bees as well as humans who want to
harvest honey. To quote:
-
Desiccation of honey takes a significant percentage of the energy
delivered to the hive in the form of nectar for A. mellifera, particularly
in the northern part of their range where nectar is lower in
concentration.
Typical values show that over 50% of the delivered energy may be used in
the process of honey ripening and even in exceptionally favourable
circumstances for temperate climates, do not use less than 25%
Gareth
