Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: markmp on January 12, 2015, 03:25:14 PM

Title: Dead bees in winter
Post by: markmp on January 12, 2015, 03:25:14 PM
I have two hives and I am seeing a few dead bees outside the hive every day.  I even see the odd bee fly out from the hive even when it is -5C (~20 F), but sunny.  We have been as cold as -30C so far this winter but only for a couple days at a time. I would say half of the dead bees have their tongues sticking out.  Is this normal or is it possibly a sign of starvation.

Thanks!
Title: Re: Dead bees in winter
Post by: GSF on January 13, 2015, 06:39:45 AM
Mark, I can answer your question in part. We've just come out of a pretty hard cold snap in the last few days. For about a week or so the bees have been clustered, now that it's warmer they've broke cluster and are doing house cleaning. Hence the dead bees out in front of my hive.
Title: Re: Dead bees in winter
Post by: Michael Bush on January 13, 2015, 09:29:48 AM
>Is this normal or is it possibly a sign of starvation.

Normal