Preparing bees for winter: video and instructions for creating conditions for successful wintering. How bees prepare for winter: what is needed to create a bee ball

In their own hives, because they create them in the most favorable places, for example, in the hollows of trees. Preparation for cold weather for these insects is always the same - by winter they try to raise as many young offspring as possible, seal the cracks with propolis and be sure to drive drones (male individuals) out of the nest that are no longer needed. Thanks to this, they prepare a strong family for the season, providing themselves with sufficient warmth and food. This is typical for both wild and apiary bees.

To survive the winter, these accumulate in the warmest place of the nest - on the lower cells of the honeycombs, free from honey. They form a large ball, which consists of a dense crust and a looser middle. Closeness to each other and constant movement bees inside this ball helps them maintain the necessary warm temperature even in the most severe cold.

External part bee ball dense because it consists of almost motionless bees pressed tightly against each other. And the inner one is more loose, since bees can move freely there to feed and generate heat. The temperature inside the bee ball does not drop below 15°C, and at the end of wintering it can reach 30°C. Insects are constantly in a ball in some places, so as not to get cold and allow their hungry brothers to approach the honey.

Bees are not afraid of strong and dry frosts, the main thing is that there is enough food. And a hive wrapped in snow is especially pleasant for them, because snow perfectly retains heat. But severe dampness in the hive and drafts can be destructive for bees, as well as too dry air. All this can spoil the honey, and the bees will have nothing to eat. Here

How do bees prepare for winter? Honeybees do not hibernate for the winter, as many other insects do, but live a normal life. As soon as the autumn cold snaps, the queen reduces and then stops laying eggs. Bees are spending more and more time in the nest. Here around the brood they continue to support high temperature, necessary for the life of the remaining larvae and pupae. A lot of bees accumulate here. They no longer perform any work; they sit almost motionless. The shape of this mass of bees resembles a ball or a large ball. That's what beekeepers call it - a club of bees. The club is usually located downstairs, not far from the entrance, on empty honeycombs. Only the upper part of it is on the honey. But if a warm sunny day falls, the club breaks up and the bees fly out of the hive. The autumn flight is short and friendly. The bees seem to be in a hurry to take advantage of this warmth. As soon as the sun sets behind the cloud, they return home again. The bees need this very short, at least a few minutes, flight from the hive in order to cleanse their intestines. And if in the fall the bees empty their intestines of feces, it will be much easier for them to endure the winter. The later the bees fly around, the better. In autumn, the hives should be positioned with their entrances facing south so that the sun will quickly excite the bees. In the south, bees fly around even in winter, but in Siberia they do not leave the hives for 6-7 months

Answer

Bees are preparing for winter

The main honey harvest is left behind - the crown of the entire beekeeping season. It develops differently. As they say, there is no change from year to year, but with skill and diligence, the beekeeper usually does not lose money. August for bees is already autumn, when they, without missing a single day, prepare for a long winter. The number decreases flowering plants. And they are stingy with nectar. True, where sunflower is cultivated, honey harvest continues until autumn. But still, the behavior of bees is changing here too. They begin to save food, saving every drop of it.
The first thing they do in preparation for winter is to expel drones from their nest. After all, the swarming was over, and during the heavy honey flow there was no time for them.
Bees carry open honey from the lower and outer combs and accumulate it at the top of the hive.
The entrances are now heavily guarded. Even at night the bees do not remove their guard. To help the bees protect their homes, the entrances are kept small, no more than 5 cm, and the top ones are closed completely. The bees themselves narrow the entrance, if it is large, and seal the cracks in the hive with propolis.
During honey collection, bees worked all day long: during the day they collected nectar, at night they prepared honey from it. This difficult work sapped their strength. Many died, and the survivors were so worn out that they were no longer able to survive the winter. The entire burden of wintering and the future of the family falls on the bees that appear in August and September. The most vitally active young and strong, they retain the ability to nurse a new generation, build honeycombs, and collect honey and pollen until the next season.
And although the uterus, obeying the laws of nature, no longer produces such a large number of eggs, as in spring and summer, the bees still take care of it: they feed it abundantly, provide a place for laying, freeing the middle of the nest from honey - the most warm place. The younger the queen, the longer, until the coldest weather, she lays eggs.

One of the most labor-intensive and important stages in beekeeping is preparing bees for winter. Low temperatures inhibit the development of the bee colony and do not have the best effect on the development of bees. Autumn increase in concentration carbon dioxide contributes to their physiological aging, and a decrease in temperature increases the energy expenditure of insects to regulate the microclimate inside the nest.
Therefore, ideally, wintering should take place without loss of members of the bee colony. And the bees should not lose their health and energy. For getting detailed information You can watch a video about the sequence of actions to prepare your pets for the cold season. Conditions that contribute to maintaining the activity of an overwintered bee colony and good honey collection include:
1) increasing the strength of the bee colony;
2) procurement of benign food by bees;
3) nest assembly and creation necessary conditions to support a family in winter.

In winter, bee colonies must go prepared

Building bees in autumn

It is quite difficult for bees, exhausted during the main harvest, to increase the number of young individuals necessary for successful wintering. Therefore, the end of the honey harvest should be marked by the autumn growth of bees. First of all, in the fall, every beekeeper must carry out a thorough audit of bee colonies.
If any of the strong colonies has neither eggs in the comb nor brood, it is worth checking it for the presence of a queen. At the end of the honey harvest period, there are significantly fewer worker bees, so in the fall the number of nests should be reduced. To do this, first of all, combs containing a small amount of honey are removed, and low-copper combs with brood are placed on the edge of the nest so that the queen bee cannot occupy them with new brood. To ensure your pets can easily transfer honey from the removed frames to the nest, they are placed one at a time behind the diaphragm of the hive.
The nest contains two or three frames partially occupied with honey with good cells. It is desirable that the honeycombs be light brown in color. Such honeycombs influence the reproductive instinct of the queens, which will begin to lay eggs much more actively.
To increase the strength of the bee colony during the absence of honey collection in nature, skilled beekeepers use various methods. For example, they provide stimulating feeding from sugar syrup (2 kg of sugar per 1 liter of water). And some take apiaries to areas with late honey production.
In order for colonies to winter safely, it is necessary to timely replace unproductive and old queen bees. Only young queens lay a large number of eggs and are able to create strong bee colonies by winter. Every beekeeper's apiary must have cores with spare queen bees, which can quickly replace a missing queen from the family.

Procurement of quality feed

The most optimal time for bees to prepare food is July, that is, the first half of the main harvest. As a rule, bees need about 25-30 kg of honey product for the winter-spring period. Beekeepers leave two honeycomb frames with honey on each side of the nest, or put them in storage. The frames are returned to the hive when the bees prepare for winter in October.
For the winter, 20 kilograms are usually left in the nest. The remainder is removed to a room with stable temperature and humidity. Uniform indicators prevent unwanted crystallization of honey reserves.
Bees overwinter much more successfully on light varieties of honey containing less minerals (meadow, sweet clover, fruit, linden). If the beekeeper was unable to prepare a high-quality product in sufficient quantities, then it is better to replace 50-60% of the reserves with sugar. The preparations must not contain honeydew impurities. In winter, honeydew causes diarrhea in bees and leads to the death of entire colonies.
Therefore, at the end of the honey harvest, feed supplies must be checked for the presence of honeydew. Of course, it is safer to contact the field laboratories of the Beekeeping Institute. But if this is not possible, you can perform an independent analysis.
First you need to prepare lime water. To do this, quicklime is diluted with distilled or rainwater and the composition is shaken until the color of milk is obtained. The clear liquid formed from the settled mixture is poured into a clean container, and the liquid taken from different parts nesting honeycomb honey is mixed in a glass.
Next, mix one part of distilled (rain) water, one part of honey and 2 parts of lime water, and then shake and bring the resulting solution to a boil. Strong turbidity and precipitated flakes are a signal that it is better to replace such honey with a higher-quality product or sugar. But we must remember that this analysis may show inaccurate results.
Bees easily collect syrup from feeders and seal them while the warm weather lasts. Therefore, the beginning of September is the ideal time for feeding. The bee colony is fed from feeders according to the following scheme: 3-4 liters of syrup 2-3 times every 2-3 days. It is important to prevent bee theft.

Assembling a bee nest and installing hives for the winter

After hatching the bulk of the brood of the nest, instructions for assembling which can be seen in the video, it’s time to prepare the insects for wintering. If your pets spend the winter in a cold room or outside, it is preferable to leave the nest more compressed. Only honeycombs should remain in it, at least half filled with printed honey. In addition, in the honeycombs you need to leave two frames filled with honey and sealed beebread.

Sealed honeycombs are the main source of food for bees in winter.

Nucleuses where spare queen bees are located should be left with 10 kg of honey in 3-4 frames. The frames that have not yet been freed from the brood are temporarily placed at the edge of the nest. The nests are insulated from the sides and top. Before wintering, the bees themselves are treated for braulosis, varroatosis and other diseases. Upon completion of nest assembly, the family must be treated with an acaricidal preparation.
In regions that do not differ harsh winters, bees winter quite successfully outside. In this case, the main condition is the presence of very well-insulated hives with entrances covered with boards. Bees thrive in sunny apiaries surrounded by forest, buildings or a fence. The best solution will place the hives with the front wall facing south.
Wintering in specially constructed winter huts has a number of undeniable advantages. These include good protection from wind, dampness and temperature changes, savings in honey reserves and ease of monitoring the condition of wintering bees. You can learn how to build a winter shelter from the video.
Preparing a winter hut for bees includes:

• construction of a winter hut with a temperature from + 4 to + 6° and air humidity in the range of 80-85%;
• ensuring ventilation in the summer-autumn period;
• destruction of mold, closing mouse holes;
• insulation of walls and ceilings.

Bees should be removed from the winter hut when cold weather sets in, when it is no longer possible to count on warm weather for flights of bees. The hives are brought into the winter road in dry weather. The movement must be carried out extremely carefully, otherwise the worried bees may leave the club and crawl away, which can lead to their death. The hives are placed on racks in two or three tiers.
The strongest colonies should be located at the bottom, and weak bee colonies and nuclei with spare queens should be located on the upper tiers. The entrances facing the passage should be opened only after the bees have calmed down. During the first days of wintering, the fans are left open and then adjusted to maintain the required temperature. The process of preparing for a safe winter is clearly shown in the video.

Bees are one of the most unique creatures on our planet. They are fundamentally different from all other insects and bring invaluable benefits to both nature and humans.

Features of the life of bees

Among all the traits that distinguish bees, the most important are the following:

• Like ants, they are social creatures. Bees live in colonies (swarms), where a strict hierarchy is observed, i.e. each of them has its own specific role. At the head of all is the uterus, which is responsible for the reproduction of future generations;
• These are one of the most ancient insects that appeared on the planet about 100 million years ago. Thanks to this, they managed to settle everywhere and now live on all continents, not counting Antarctica;
• Bees have a unique feeding system: they obtain flower pollen and nectar using a specially adapted oral apparatus(proboscis);
• In a colony, the main force is females, while males (also called drones) are used only to create offspring.

Wintering of bees

They are one of the few insects that can carry cold period without hibernating. However, before the start of winter, their activity decreases: adult individuals pay more and more attention to the young and fly out less and less for pollen, and then stop working altogether. The queen also stops laying eggs, i.e. In winter, new larvae do not appear.

With the onset of frost, all representatives of the swarm gather into one large ball to maintain warmth, which is called among beekeepers: a club of bees. This mass sits on the empty honeycombs, and its upper part reaches directly to the honey reserves. In this case, the shape of the club may change depending on the temperature outside the hive. The colder it gets, the more tightly the bees press against each other in order to better retain heat and, most importantly, prevent the larvae and young animals from freezing. Insects feed on the honey deposits that have accumulated during the warm period. It is estimated that during the winter one swarm can eat about 10 kilograms of this nutritious product.

Valentina Zavadskaya
Research paper “What do bees do in winter?”

"What what bees do in winter?»

Target: explore the life of bees in winter.

Tasks:

Expand children's knowledge and ideas about the peculiarities of life bees in winter.

Bring up careful attitude to nature and a humane attitude towards insects.

Enrich lexicon, develop coherent speech

An object research: apiary.

Item research: life bee swarm in winter.

Hypothesis: I assume that bees, like many other insects, fall hibernate in winter.

Methods research: study of literary publications on beekeeping, Internet, conversation, observation, experimentation.

Relevance: Many people know that in the summer bees They fly over flowering fields, collect nectar and pollen, and process them into honey. They work in hives, almost without rest, it’s not for nothing that everyone hears the phrase “work like bee". However, few people know that what bees do in winter. Most believe that these insects hibernate, like butterflies, flies or beetles. Is it so?

What kind of houses are these?

One day we were visiting a grandfather we knew. I saw There are a lot of wooden boxes in the backyard of the house. I wondered what it was.

Boris Sergeevich, that’s the name of my grandfather’s friend, told me that he beekeeper, and these boxes are houses bees and they are called hives. Beekeeping he has been practicing for 4 years now. At first he had 2 hives, and now he has 12. Contents bees Quite a difficult task. You need to have enough knowledge and perseverance to make life the bees were nice, and breeding bees successful. He treats these small, hardworking insects with great care and love. AND the bees pay him the same.

Boris Sergeevich builds hives with his own hands. He introduced me to the technique of making a beehive. Boris Sergeevich buys boards made from pine wood at the market. He has a template from which he cuts out parts for the future hive. Each board is coated with waterproof wood glue. Then, from these parts, as from a construction set, he assembles « bee house» . I found it very interesting and educational to build a hive. I learned that inside the hive there are removable frames in which bees produce honey. The frames are also made by himself from wooden slats, and there is foundation in them. (artificial honeycomb). Place under the hive cover "pillow". This is burlap, which is necessary for insulating the house. Boris Sergeevich says that for bees need special care. In the fall, he prepares for winter, insulates the hives and feeds bees with sugar syrup.

The secret of life bees in winter

That do insects in summer period I know a lot. Bees- real hard workers. They begin to fly busily as soon as the sun comes out, and disappear into the hive at nightfall. And all day they persist work. Flight bees collect nectar and pollen, creating food reserves for all bee family. During the harvesting process, they simultaneously pollinate plants, flying from flower to flower. Their other fellow tribesmen, worker young bees, work in hive: they maintain order in it, clearing their house of garbage, building honeycombs and raising offspring. They also process nectar and pollen. During this period, even drones are not useless - they are engaged in the reproduction of offspring. But then autumn comes and the flowers completely fade. It's getting colder outside. Winter is creeping closer. What are they doing? bees during the cold season and what happens in their home - the hive? Bees are sleeping? I wanted to find out and tell my friends about it.

Preparation bees for wintering.

I learned that depending on how successfully it overwinters bee family , her well-being in the new season will depend. They will spend long months of cold in the hive. Therefore everything must be taken into account and done in advance. I found out that wintering insects begin preparations in the fall, when the air temperature drops and bribes stop in nature. By this time already done by bees a supply of food in the form of honey and bee bread, which will feed them all winter. The quality of winter feed is great importance. The insects must have time to seal the honey. Only this product is suitable for consumption in winter. I learned that light varieties of honey are most suitable for wintering according to its indicators. Dark varieties differ to a greater extent crystallization, which will have a bad effect on bees, especially in early spring, before the first flight. Together with Boris Sergeevich, we determined the presence of honeydew in the honey reserves that he leaves for his workers. We took equal amounts of honey samples from feed stocks and water (rain). Mix the liquid thoroughly and add the same amount of lime water. The resulting mixture was heated over a fire until it boiled. In some samples of honey from hives, we saw sediment in the form of brown flakes - honeydew is present in large quantities. This honey is not suitable for wintering it needs to be completely changed. It will cause harm, if not death bees. As a result of our research We have determined in which hives the honey is unsuitable for nutrition bees in winter. For the winter bee family you need 12-16 kg of honey and 5 kg of bee bread. The preparation process is clearly visible externally. Worker bees seal the cracks in the hive with propolis. Such actions are aimed at retaining heat in the winter hive and maintaining the desired microclimate in it. Drafts, cold, dampness inside do not contribute to comfortable wintering. That's why it's so important for them to prepare their home. the best way. People say - the more carefully bees clog their home, the colder the winter will be. On only the queen leaves for the winter, young, not busy works this year the brood and a small amount of old bees. After the end of honey collection, the colony expels the drones. They are no longer needed until the next season; insects will not waste precious food on them. The procedure of expelling drones is also a sign that bee the family is preparing to face the winter. Entrance to the hive the bees no longer guard. At this time, they increasingly remain in the center of the hive. This is the warmest place. On a fine day, if the hive is well warmed up by the sun, the insects make their last flight. This way they empty the intestines. Bees in winter usually do not defecate. The further the temperature drops, the bees become less active, gather tightly on the honeycombs, and begin to form a club.

Wintering of bees.

I saw, What bees they spend the winter with Boris Sergeevich open space. Protects hives from wind and snow using old window frames. in winter Insects, as a rule, do not fly, but sit quietly on the honeycombs. How do they spend the winter? bees, and what happens in the hive during this period? I have learned that bees do not carry out winter months in hibernation. But their activity decreases, all life processes slow down, and the need for food decreases. Energy is now spent on production and maintaining the temperature in the center of the club. Here it is 13-18 C, regardless of external indicators. To keep the hive warm in winter, bees gather in a bunch which is called the club bees. In the center is the uterus, which bee the family warms as its most important member. The inner layer of the club is bees that are constantly moving. Due to muscle work generates heat, allowing all insects located there to warm up. The outer surface of this cluster is formed by a layer of stationary bees, which are placed as much as possible closer friend to friend. This technique helps maintain a constant level of heat inside. Periodically, insects change places to keep warm. The club is formed at the place where the last brood emerged, in the center. Gradually it moves to the top of the hive, where it is warmer. In the same way, food reserves disappear as insects move through the honeycombs. Some bees may occupy extreme boundaries, but there are not many of them. A decrease in temperature forces solitary insects to move closer to the club, otherwise they will die. Positive temperature bees They are supported only inside the club; the hive is not heated at all. This way they minimize feed consumption and heat generation costs. The temperature in the club never drops below 13 C. If it rises above, bees become more active, increase nutrition, the temperature in the club rises to 18 C. To find out how they feel bees Inside the hive, Boris Sergeevich and I listened to them in his apiary. A smooth, quiet hum coming from the hive indicates a prosperous wintering of bees. I was very surprised to learn that bees can even fly out of the hive in winter. IN good weather when the air temperature warms up to 10C bees they feel it and fly out of the hive and circle over the apiary, making a cleansing flyby. That's all about how they spend the winter bees. Insects sit in the hive, eat honey, warm each other with the movement of their bodies and wait for spring, the time when they can again take care of their affairs. To wintering was successful, needed a good warm home, quality food and a healthy, strong bee family.

In the process of my research activity, I heard words unfamiliar to me from Boris Sergeevich. My mother and I found their meanings in explanatory dictionary and made up a small "Dictionary beekeeper» .

Brood - future offspring bee family.

Bee bribe - prey, collected in different places and brought to the hive. It consists of honey, bee bread, bee glue and water.

Perga - flower pollen collected bees, placed by them in the cells of the honeycomb, filled with honey and used by them as food.

Honeydew is the sweet secretion of insects.

Bee The queen is the only female in the family capable of laying eggs.

Drone - male social bees. Doesn't produce honey. Takes part in the brood bees.

Honey is a plant waste product consisting of processed by bees flower nectar with the addition of enzymes and pollen. To produce 500g of honey, one a bee needs 10 million. fly from the hive to the flower and back again. During the season, the hive produces from 150 to 300 kg of honey.

Nectar is a juice secreted by flowering plants to attract pollinators.

Propolis is bee glue. Propolis has a pleasant aroma and a bitter taste. Propolis contains essential oils, wax and pollen.

Foundation - thin (about 1 mm) wax sheets with bottoms and beginnings of cells pressed out on both sides honeycomb. When placing frames with artificial foundation in the hive bees First, the beginnings of the cells are pulled out, and then they are lengthened by adding wax secreted by them themselves. The result is a double-sided honeycomb with regular rows bee cells.

A secret to the whole world.

I shared the knowledge I gained with my friends in kindergarten. When I asked them what they thought what bees do in winter, they to me answered: « Bees sleep in winter!» They were surprised to learn that this was not the case at all.

Conclusion: My opinion is that bees fall into hibernation, like many other insects, has not been confirmed. Having studied life bees in winter, I came to the conclusion that honey bees spend the winter large families, consisting of one uterus and several thousand worker bees who are in a state of constant vital activity.