I’ve discussed the winter cluster in lots more detail a couple of years ago. The mantle temperature of the cluster never drops below ~8☌, but the core is maintained at 18-20☌ when broodless or ~35☌ if they are rearing brood. If chilled below ~5.5☌ a bee becomes semi-comatose 2 and unable to warm herself up again. The cluster conserves warmth and there is a temperature gradient from the outside – termed the mantle – to the middle (the core). Remove the crownboard and some bees will probably fly. But, look closely and you’ll see that the bees are moving. If you lift the lift the roof from a hive on a cold midwinter day you’ll find the bees clustered tightly together. Winter cluster 3/1/21 3☌ (insulation block removed from the crownboard) stored fat, are conserved and the animal waits out the winter until environmental conditions improve. The animal becomes torpid, exhibiting a reduced heart rate, low body temperature and reduced breathing. Hibernation is a physiological state in which the metabolic processes of the body are significantly reduced. I think the paper poses rather more questions than it answers, but I do think the results show the benefits of hive insulation and these are worth discussing. Nevertheless, the results are interesting. However, a closer look at the paper raises a number of questions about what is actually benefitting (or killing) the colonies. The paper extolled the virtues of ‘covered’ hives and the data the researchers present looks, at first glance, compelling.įor example, 27% of the uncovered control hives. Andrew lives on the island of Colonsay about 75 km south of me and we both ‘benefit’ from the damp Atlantic climate. I’d been reading a paper on the benefits of wrapping hives in the winter and Andrew commented that he did exactly that to fend off the worst of the wet weather. What provides the most benefit, and are the results as clear cut as they seem? IntroductionĪ recent talk by Andrew Abrahams to the Scottish Native Honey Bee Society coincided with me catching up my 1 backlog of scientific papers on honey bees. Synopsis : A recent study shows increased overwinter colony survival of ‘covered’ hives wrapped in Correx and with insulation under the roof.
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