Beehive Activity

The activity of bees and their lives are strongly influenced by the changing seasons. Each month brings about new changes in behavior to a beehive and its occupants. Obviously, a beehive is less active during the colder months and more active when the weather is warm, but that doesn't mean you get to ignore the hive completely while they are inactive. That raises the question: is it better to start a beehive in cold weather or warm weather? Understanding how and when bee activity is altered due to the changing weather is the best way to make this determination.

Bee Activity by Season

Each season brings its own challenges to a hive and the bees react accordingly. The activity level of a bee is dictated by the weather and cold weather inhibits their movement. In fact, bees left out in the elements, unprotected will often not survive the winter.

A high-level concentration of bees in a beehive will be better able to tolerate the cold than a hive with fewer bees, but are still in danger of succumbing to the cold if the temperature drops too low. Your role is to act as custodian of the hive and to keep is safe and in good condition throughout the year. The rest is up to the bees!

Winter

During the winter, the bees will be in a tight cluster around
The queen will lay fewer eggs now as the workers' activity begins to die down. This is when the beekeeper should medicate the bees and supplement their food with sugar syrup. As fall progresses, the bees will begin to huddle around the queen and there will bee little activity from them. You should use this time to reinforce the security of the hive to keep out rodents and predators that will make a meal out of a hibernating brood colony. November and December will call for little more than cursory inspections to make sure that everything is as it should