Not a lot usually happens with overwintering hives, but when a warm day comes along, the bees may make a few cleansing flights (they don’t poop in the hive, so they have to hold it until they get a chance to relieve themselves). Our hives at home were both flying today, so I went to the DePaul Urban Garden to check up on the three hives there.
Nobody was flying when I got there at 3, but all three hives had a few dead bees on their front porches. Since they seemed to be fresh, my guess is that gravekeeper bees dragged the bodies out earlier while it was warmer. I also peeked inside one hive (we have spacers with clear vinyl insulation, so you can look inside without letting all their warm air out), and while I didn’t see any bees up in the top box, it felt warm and afterwards a few live bees did poke their heads out the front door. This is good as it means that the hive is still alive, but worrisome that they might be spending extra energy on flying when there is no forage available for them to collect. This Thursday is forecast to get above 40°F, so I’ll give them supplemental fondant patties to make sure they don’t run out of resources.
