Jerre Ann Everts, age 13, of Omaha, Nebraska, for her question:
What do honeybees do in the winter?
Lens take a peek inside a beehive and see what goes on. We must know where to find the hive for there are no bees flying around to lead us there. Worker bees do not come outdoors in the winter. They are with the queen mother, snugly sealed up in the hive. Every crack is sealed with beeswax so we shall have to make a small hole to see inside.
Perhaps the fuzzy little bees are all asleep, hibernating like the frogs and woodchucks. Not at all. They are bees and bees are busy come winter or summer. True, the numbers are reduced. A summer hive of 50,000 may be reduced to a mere 10,000. There are no drone or male bees and only a very few eggs, grubs and pupae. The active winter colony consists of the queen mother and her 10,000 or so workers.
The queen mother has lived through several winters. But this is the first and only winter for the worker bees. They were born towards the end of summer and will perish early in the spring. For the life of a worker bee is at most but a few months long. Yet these workers, in some mysterious fashion, know exactly what is necessary to keep the hive safe through the cold weather. Bees are slow and sluggish in the cold but the busy little princesses perform their winter chores faithfully.
They know by instinct that their little bodies generate warmth, so they cluster together in a fuzzy ball. The bees on the outside keep out the cold from those on the inside. These outer bees are constantly changing places with those on the inside. That way, nobody gets too cold, for everyone has a chance to warm up inside the cozy cluster.
The little creatures know that food is limited. They cannot go marketing outdoors in the cold weather. Besides, their stores are all closed. There are no blossoms oozing with nectar and powdery with pollen to make bee food. The supplies of honey, bee bread and royal jelly on hand must last until spring opens the flowers.
The pantries in the hive are combs with rows of cells stuffed full of food. And the food is rationed. Everyone gets so much and no more. The royal jelly is for the queen mother and for her alone. The workers control the number of eggs she lays by the amount of royal jelly they feed her. In winter they cut down her rations because only a few eggs may be laid. Her majesty may feel a bit hungry. When this happens she takes a small sip of honey from a cell.
A very few babies are reared in the cozy center of the cluster. They will replace the few worker bees that happen to perish during the winter. Other chores are performed when trouble threatens. Should an enemy get in the hive, a number of bees attack and sting it. Should a nosy person poke a hole to see what goes on, a few bees get busy with wax and plug it up again.