Is this a cleansing flight?

Algonam · December 28, 2011, 08:11:04 AM

Our winter here in Eastern Ontario has been unusually warm. Usually by now we have more snow and experience regular -20 temps. It has been quite mild with temps fluctuating between -12 and 0 with little snow.
Yesterday afternoon our high was 0 (Celcius),we walked out to our hives and were suprised to see a bee leave leave one of the hives. Was this a cleansing flight? or just a suicide flight to check out what is going on with the weather? It flew out and up in circles and eventually up to the height of the trees (50ft) and disappeared.

On another note, there were a few dead bees at the upper entrances. Could these bees have been just chucked out as part of a hive cleaning process?

AM

Finski · December 28, 2011, 12:21:13 PM

.
The hive has nosema or bees are too full of poo. They come out to die. Their things are not all right.

Cleasing flight is possible on snow if temp is +5C, sun shines brightly and wind is calm.
Is it in Canada in late February or what? - big country.

BlueBee · December 28, 2011, 12:32:14 PM

I had a couple of bees flying from my top entrance hives in the snow yesterday too. It was snowing and 0C at the time. They kind of acted like they were going on cleansing flights but I didn't look real close. Then again, maybe they were coming after me in my big brown coat!

When cleansing, they don't seem to fly very far off or very fast. They just kind of hover around the hive and dump their gut. They are loaded down after all! When the snow has a bunch of yellow/brown spots around the hive, you'll know they're doing cleansing flights, it's usually more than just a couple of bees at a time.

Algonam · December 28, 2011, 03:12:07 PM

Very interesting Bluebee. I too have my hives covered with 2" thick styrofoam but only on 5 sides. The bottom isn't insulated (yet), but my hives are up on hive stands approx 19" off the ground.
Mine on on a rural property so they don't look as presentable as yours ;).
I just taped it on loosely with aluminum tape. I also have a few dead bees just like you. My snow is deeper and my bottom reduced entrance can't be seen, but the bees had climbed out of there and flew off from there. I also have a couple of dead bees at the top entrance/breather hole on each hive.
I am hoping Finski is just assuming things ..... and that you've experienced this before. Please confirm if you've seen this before.
It is my first winter as a beekeeper so I don't know any better!....not that I can do anything about it at this point.

FYI today it is -12 at 2pm and it will be going down to -18 tonight (-25 with windchill). This is typical winter temps here.
AM

BlueBee · December 28, 2011, 06:31:28 PM

Algonam, while you are about 2 degrees North of me, I suspect our climates are very similar (cold continental). We've had a mild winter so far as well. This probably accounts for the differences between Finski's report and mine. Finski does know more about bees than I do, but he may not realize we've had a milder winter than usual this year.

I've been using highly insulated foam (5cm thick) boxes for 2 winters now and it is "normal" for my bees to be out crawling around the top entrances when it is sunny and 0C (or warmer) here. A few old bees might also fly out to their deaths every so often. Bees don't live forever. I don't worry about a few bees; that's normal. Others may find a bunch of dead bees on the bottom board come spring. Either way, not every bee survives the winter.

I agree with Finski that most bees are not going to fly until it gets to +5C or +10C. If you've got a bunch of bees flying at 0C, that would be unusual and a cause for concern. If you just have a lone bee or two, I wouldn't worry about it.

I am experimenting with 2 styles of highly insulated FOAM hives this winter. One design (shown in the photo above) has ONLY a top entrance and the other design has ONLY a bottom entrance. All my hives were jam packed with bees going into winter. Interestingly, the bees in the foam hives with top entrances do patrol the top entrances down to about 0C. The bees in the foam hives with only bottom entrances appear completely dormant unless it gets up near 10C (50F) outside.

tefer2 · December 28, 2011, 06:51:59 PM

I checked on a few of mine today also, had a few fly out and away,never to return!

Country Heart · December 28, 2011, 08:18:42 PM

BlueBee - love the top entrances on your hives. Did you make them or buy them? Can you share the details?
I would love to make or buy something similar for mine.

Algonam · December 28, 2011, 09:15:20 PM

Great news Bluebee and tefer2!
It seems like I am learning everything the hard way and the only thing left to complete my first year with some success will be the survival of my queens and a few bees in each hive to start fresh again in Spring.

Now I can sleep without worrying about my girls !

AM