Those Bees Just Bundle Up For The Winter

Well Honeybees cluster in the middle of the hive and use their wings to fan the hive to keep it warm. Hive stays between 80 and 120 degrees all winter long. The cluster moves along the frames and the bees eat the honey stored in the cells. Before they buckle down for winter they kill all the Drone bees (Male bees) and kick them out the front of the hive. Drones are only needed to mate with the queen during spring and only if they supersede or lose their queen. That is an interesting concept! By the time spring arrives they have hatchet out new Drones that eat honey and wait for a queen to mate. This is a picture of a swarm we collected in Shawnee back in May. This is similar to what the cluster looks like in the hive.