Winter Bees
Winter Bees – their quality is determined during rearing
Why the groundwork is laid one bee generation earlier
Winter bees are the foundation for a successful overwintering. While summer bees typically live for only a few weeks, winter bees can live for several months. They not only must survive the winter but also care for the first new brood in spring.
Whether they are capable of doing so is determined long before winter – during their rearing.
Good winter bees need healthy nurse bees
The previous generation plays a crucial role. The nurse bees produce the food syrup for the developing larvae and require a good nutrient supply themselves.
Pollen as a natural protein source is particularly important. It provides not only proteins but also fats, amino acids, and other nutrients. It’s not just about the quantity: pollen from different plants varies significantly in its composition. Therefore, a diverse pollen supply is especially valuable.
Protein dough can help with pollen shortages
In late summer, the natural pollen supply can become scarce depending on location and weather. If pollen is indeed lacking, protein dough can be a sensible supplement.
It can help mitigate a supply gap and support the nutrition of the nurse bees. However, it should not be given based solely on the calendar. It should first be assessed whether enough pollen is being collected and corresponding reserves are available.
A diverse natural pollen supply remains the best foundation.
Winter bees build up reserves
Winter bees differ physiologically from summer bees. They possess larger protein and fat reserves and particularly higher amounts of the storage protein vitellogenin.
These reserves are associated with longevity, immune defense, and resilience to stress. They also enable winter bees to resume feeding the first brood in spring after a long period without significant pollen entries.
Varroa must be under control beforehand
However, good protein supply alone is not enough.
The varroa burden should already be as low as possible in the nurse bee generation. Weakened nurse bees are not a good prerequisite for the rearing of long-lived winter bees.
Even more importantly, the future winter bees themselves should grow up as free from burdens as possible. Varroa and particularly the closely related Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) can significantly reduce the lifespan of winter bees. This long lifespan is precisely what is needed to bridge the time until the next bee generation.
Not every autumn bee is automatically a winter bee
The transition from summer to winter bees is gradual. There is no fixed day when a colony suddenly produces winter bees.
With declining brood care, the physiology of the workers also changes. They consume less of their own reserves for brood care and can, among other things, store more vitellogenin. These changes contribute to the extraordinary longevity of winter bees.
The winter bee begins a generation earlier
Those who want strong winter bees should not wait to observe the bees sitting on the combs in autumn.
The crucial factors are already the weeks before:
Healthy nurse bees + good protein supply + low varroa burden = good conditions for long-lived winter bees.
Preparations for winter do not begin only when the colony is wintered. They begin already with the generation that raises our winter bees.
