A picture of snowed-in beehives taken by beekeeper Marina Marchese of Red Bee Honey triggered many questions about the bees’ life and survival during harsh winters, which may have crossed your mind too, such as can bees survive blizzard? We interviewed Marina with a few simple questions to get a clue…
Snow-covered beehives!
Why do bees make honey? What’s their purpose?
Honeybees make honey from the nectar of flowers, it is their source of carbohydrates for adults’ as well as young bees’ diet. Honeybees will hoard honey and will continue to make honey as long as nectar is available and there is room to store it inside their hive. (NOTE: Pollen is moved by bees initiating pollination and is their source of protein).
When do bees gather pollen/nectar, for how long? When in the year is honey then produced by bees, does it exactly coincide with seasons?
During any given season many different plants produce nectar and pollen. Honeybees will begin foraging as soon as the temperature is above 50 degrees F and the flowers are blooming. Female worker bees leave the hive and begin foraging for nectar and pollen at 3 weeks old. They will make honey for as long as nectar (flowers bloom) is available and Mother Nature cooperates, meaning sunny days with temperatures above 55-60 degrees.
How far do bees fly to gather pollen/nectar?
Honeybees will fly up to 3-4 miles to find, pollen, nectar, water (and resin to make propolis).
That’s pretty far for an insect! Can bees fly and can they lose their way when there is strong wind?
The wind does interfere with the honeybees ability to fly and they are not capable of activating their flight muscles when the temperature dips below 48 degrees. It also breaks down the chemical messages called pheromones, including the one that is responsible for guiding workers back to their own hive.
When is it harvested by you the beekeeper? Are raw honey and honey comb the same?
In the Northeast we harvest honey in September (which happens to be National Honey Month), in southern regions honey often can be harvested in spring and again in fall (depending upon the nectar flow and Mother Nature).
In my opinion, honeycomb is the only truly raw honey still inside the wax, untouched just as the honeybee made it. Raw can also apply to liquid honeys, meaning unpasteurized or simply unheated. The process of producing honeycomb and liquid honey involve different techniques.
What are the factors to honey flavors?
Every honey has a unique flavor profile that depends upon the type of nectar gathered by the honeybee. The essence of a honey is dictated by the terroir (from the French word for earth), describing the unique combination of geographic location, climate, soil and temperature that give each honey its complex composition and individual personality. As in winemaking, terroir dramatically affects the flavor profiles of the honeys produced.
How many bees on average are in each of your beehives?
At the height of bee season, which is July-August here in the Northeast, a typical beehive can have 80,000 honeybees.
Who cleans up the beehive?
For the first three weeks of their short life young worker bees (females) known as “house bees” begin cleaning the hive from the minute they emerge from their cells as adults, maintaining a pristine environment to make honey. Beekeepers also pitch in and help by inspecting hives for pest and diseases.
So, what do bees do during winter? Can they die when it’s freezing cold out?
Honeybees form a tight cluster inside the hive around their queen maintaining a temperature of 90 degrees throughout winter. On a warm day of 55 degrees, they may leave for a cleansing flight or to crawl to the top of a frame and uncap some honey to eat.
Honeybees are cold-blooded insects and are capable of maintaining the 90 degrees temperature inside the cluster by shivering even the coldest winters. More honeybees die of winter starvation and Varroa (see last question) rather than freezing to death.
What’s the life expectancy of a honeybee / of a bee colony?
Honeybees live approximately 6 weeks. A colony can live for many years with the help of a beekeeper who’s main job is to keep their colony pest and disease free, insure there is sufficient honey stored up for the winter and make sure there is a healthy productive queen. A colony can not survive very long without a queen.
Are bees being exploited, as per what some vegan people claim?
Honeybees are responsible for pollinating 100 different fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, oils, herbs and spices necessary in our diet. Beekeepers are considered farmers, honeybees are considered agricultural livestock and they are also affected by many pest and diseases, same as a cow or a chicken.
Varroa destructor or the Varroa parasitic mite was introduced into the US almost 30 years ago and is responsible for killing off most of the wild honeybees here in the U.S. (In otherwords, there are very few wild honeybee colonies left in nature) Varroa mites attach themselves to the body of the honeybee and suck their blood eventually killing them and the entire colony. Varroa is thought to be contributing to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) or the disappearing honeybee. Without beekeepers to inspect and manage these pest and diseases, the honeybee would cease to exist and we would be forced into hand pollinating all of our crops or most likely eating processed foods purchased in bags and boxes. Beekeepers are essential to the survival of the honeybee in these desperate times. They are tending and nurturing nature’s finest pollinators and are responsible for bringing to market the fresh produce we enjoy eating everyday. Varroa cannot be managed without the watchful eye of the beekeeper. I urge people of the world to unite to protect the honeybee and respect the work of the beekeeper, honeybees cannot survive without our help.
Honeybees are such incredible creatures… I’ve made them my life.
