The temp here in North Central MN is approx. 18 degrees today. In the sun, it's about 35 degrees. My bees are coming out of the hives and flying approx. 30 feet from the hives and then crashing into the snow where they die. Seems like such a waste, being that they've made it this far into the winter, only to fly out and die. What do you suppose the purpose of these flights are? I know they like to do the cleansing flights, but this seems kind of stupid, for such smart little critters.
They know their time is up and they don't want to leave their carcass in the hive. They fly out to keep the home area clean.
It would kind of make sense for some of the really old bees to do that and stop consuming stores at this critical time.