Will the bees hibernate?

Bees are insects that completely feed on pollen and nectar. Bees can be seen in the flowers in spring, summer, and autumn. Among them, spring flowers are most common, but in winter, bees are rarely found. Do bees hibernate like some animals? Let ’s take a look at whether the bees hibernate!

1, hibernation is for survival

Hibernation simply refers to the adaptation of animals to the bad winter environment, because food is scarce and the temperature is generally low during the winter, and the animals dormant in order to survive to reduce energy consumption. At this time, the metabolism in the body can only sustain life. When the ambient temperature rises to a certain level in the next year, it can quickly resume life activities. For example, bats, hedgehogs, groundhogs, squirrels, etc. are all typical hibernating animals.

2, Bees are semi-hibernating insects

Bees are semi-hibernating animals. When the temperature drops below 14 ° C in winter, the queen bees will stop production, and the whole bee colony will gather for a cold winter. At this time, the center temperature of the bee mass is about 24 to 30 ° C, and the outer temperature of the bee mass is generally about 7 ° C. In addition, except for the queen bee in the center position, Worker bees in other locations will alternately adjust and rely on honey to produce heat, so bees ’wintering is similar to hibernation but not entirely hibernation.

3, bee colonies gather together to cross the cold winter

The way of bees overwintering belongs to grouping overwintering. The swarms of spring, summer, and autumn seasons collect a large amount of honey and brew it into honey. After the winter comes, the entire bee colony is gathered in a hive, the queen bee is in the center of the bee group, and the worker bees on the periphery adjust the position alternately and produce heat by eating honey. The lower the outside temperature, the tighter the swarm colony, otherwise, the swarm colony becomes looser, and the swarm returns to normal when the temperature is appropriate the next spring.

4, bee colonies dispersed after the arrival of spring

The overwintering of bees is mainly determined by temperature.Later, as the temperature rises, the queen bee will gradually resume spawning. It is worth noting that overwintering worker bees are generally black (senile bees), but they are not the pure blacks of drones.

Summary: Honeybees are semi-hibernating animals. When the winter comes, the queen bee ceases production. Among them, the queen bee is located in the center of the bee colony, while the worker bees on the periphery alternately rotate and rely on honey to produce heat, and the bee colony resumes normal activities in the following spring.