Winter Brood

[Ray Bayless]

During the winter will brood be hatching? Here in SC we have pretty mild winters. I'm just curious

[BlueBee]

Don't know about down south, but in Michigan, the bees take a break from brooding in the winter.  That also disrupts the mites which is a good thing.  Of coarse the downside it, the cold weather kills a lot of bees.  Or as Finski might say; we bee keepers kill a lot of bees   

If there is a dearth in the winter down there (and I assume there is), your bees might stop brooding for a while, but I don't know.

[Finski]

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Brooding needs pollen. One frame brood needs one frame pollen.

In UK they have pollen in nature almost the whole winter, but bees need sunshine and 16C temp that they may forage it.

Even if bees fly in the temp of 6C, don't believe that they get yield.

If you have a bee strain, which does not react on arriving winter, it continues so long brooding that pollen stores are finish.
No hive can continue then.


For example if we in Finland use New Zealand queens, they propably will die all next winter.
One guy here told that he bought 10 package hives from NZ and they all died next winter.

You have the same problem in Alaska when you bye from Hawai queens. They affects to local genepool and they surely have not local shedule.

Our researcher took 10 Anatolian queens. After 2 winters all were dead. They had no brood in winter but their general winter consumption was double compared to local bees.

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When colony has a good winter sleep, they are in good condition when true spring arrives. If hives are restless during winter, quite much will be destroyed when they try to do something all the time.

[Michael Bush]

Usually they will rear small patches of brood from time to time after the winter solstice.

[Cparagone]

So if I am reading this correctly by adding pollen patties this will provide the fuel for queen to continue laying?

[Finski]

So if I am reading this correctly by adding pollen patties this will provide the fuel for queen to continue laying?

In Australia they did a reseach how to keep on brooding over their short winter. All hives got bad nosema and they were in worse condition than non feeded hives.

[Michael Bush]

I never try to get them to raise brood in the winter, nor do I try to stop them.

[AllenF]

If they made lots of brood during the winter, chances are they would eat all their stores before spring.   They know how many bees they need.

[Cparagone]

Ok I will trust the bees, two hives had a rough start this year along with losing a queen, hopefully they will be fine