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Sunday, January 22, 2017

Bees swarm bird food

What happens to the bees in this warm winter?

Honeybees head to the hive when temperatures drop into the 50s. They don’t hibernate, instead the worker bees surround the queen and form a winter cluster with their bodies. They flutter their wings and shiver to keep the inside temperature of the hive warm. In order to keep shivering, the bees must maintain their energy by eating honey.

The mild winter weather has encouraged bees to start foraging in mid-January, and unfortunately this requires more energy than usual. You will first notice hungry winter bees, if you feed dried fruit, cracked corn or grain sorghum (milo) in bird feeders because there are no flowers available to provide pollen.



These early bees are only territorial of their hive and tend to only sting when immediately threatened. Birds still may be intimidated by the presence of the bees. If the bees are a problem switch to Wild Birds Unlimited blends that do not include corn or cheap filler grains like milo, so bees won’t be attracted.


If you have bees showing up looking for food in the winter you can feed them a solution of 2 parts white sugar to one part water in a shallow dish. I only feed birds but some beekeepers feed brewer's yeast to their honeybee colonies to help them survive the lean times. You can read more at: How to Feed Brewer's Yeast to Honey Bees | eHow.com


Related Articles:
Do Honey Bees Migrate in the Winter? http://bit.ly/KIuKKv
When did people start to feed hummingbirds? http://bit.ly/KIuSK6
What’s the best bee-proof hummingbird feeder? http://goo.gl/1RmNs
Choosing the best bird seed http://goo.gl/jrpDX
What is pollen? http://goo.gl/JlV9D

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