Do you ever wonder what honeybees do during the winter? They don't hibernate, if that's what you were thinking. They spend their time during the winter months keeping the Queen warm. All of the worker bees surround the queen and flap their wings at high speed to raise their body temperature, so that the heat that emanates from their bodies surrounds the queen and keeps her warm. The workers rotate in their position around the queen, so that the ones furthest from the center don't freeze from being close to the cold edges of the hive. The bees on the edges move into the center as the bees in the center move outward to the edges.
Before winter comes the beekeeper has some work to do, to help the bees prepare for winter. Today Albert put mouse guards on the hives. Don't worry they are not traps, they are guards to keep the mice out of the hive. During the harsh winter months, mice get hungry and will eat the wax and any remaining honey right out of the hive leaving the bees with no food to make it through winter. These mouse guards are strips of metal that go on the entry of the hive. They have small holes drilled into them to allow the bees to come and go, but a mouse can not fit through. This is one of the ways a beekeeper can help the bees make it through winter. Take a look at our website www.tomarohoney.com for more info on Tomaro Honey, and check us out on www.facebook.com/tomarohoney if you like what you see remember to "like"us on facebook!
