Susan Chase, age 13, of Spokane, Wash, for her question:

 Where do honeybees spend the winter?

When the fall flowers begin to fade, life in the busy bee hive begins to slow down. The pampered drones are driven from the nest.  Sometimes even the eggs and larvae are destroyed. The summer colony of perhaps 80,000 members must be reduced to around 10,000. The hive is now run on short rations and the stores of honey must be eked out until spring flowers bloom again.

The remaining bees repair all cracks in the nest to make it warm aril. waterproof. For much of the time, the furry little bees cluster together in a fuzzy ball to keep warm. From time to time, the bees on the outside change places with those inside. Food is carefully rationed and the main job is to keep warm until spring,