Food for thought

[ShinySideUp]

If I moved to a country on the equator and took my bees with me, what would they do? Let's assume that the area I live in has ample water and flowering plants of some description all year round so they were never short of forage, would they continue to build up stores for a winter that will never happen, would they store any honey at all? The temperature hardly varies and the only thing that changes is the rainfall. Do naturally resident equatorial bees store honey, if so, why?

Just musing really.

 

[Apple]

Good point M!
I think they would go through the seasons much as before, based on the observation with Mediterranean sup species I have kept.
Brood up and prep for swarming early in the season, put on stores and then consume the lot... then take a break from hive life till the winter forage sets in.....
Compared with my Native bees that are later to get going, tend not to swarm unless the weather is really good and produce a good crop of honey throughout the season

More honey for the new honey shop in Liskeard!!
Chons da

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

If I moved to a country on the equator and took my bees with me, what would they do? Let's assume that the area I live in has ample water and flowering plants of some description all year round so they were never short of forage, would they continue to build up stores for a winter that will never happen, would they store any honey at all? The temperature hardly varies and the only thing that changes is the rainfall. Do naturally resident equatorial bees store honey, if so, why?

Just musing really.

Yes they do - because equatorial/sub tropical areas still have seasons, managed bees in this area can have two or even three 'seasons' in a year, they may have 'wet' seasons where although warm, and things still grow, the bees can't go out to forage very often so they put down stores in readiness, then a dry, very hot season where forage is low, so bees go through two or three periods of dearth each year, in some areas the dearth is so bad that the bees abscond the nest and migrate to different areas where the seasons are slightly different.

 

[ShinySideUp]

I asked the question because I was reading an article on equatorial seasons and apparently they have no spring or autumn but they have two 'winters' and two 'summers' each year which are mostly delineated by how wet or dry each period is. Yes, I can imagine they would still have to store food as very dry or very wet weather (and extremes of each) could play havoc with forage.

 

[happyculteur]

On the Riviera, which is certainly not the equator, the bees have winter forage so they keep going. In summer when the heat leaves little nectar, they stay in.
So obviously different ecosystems sort themselves out. I don't know if your bees would adapt immediately though, or if you'd have to lay on the beach for a few centuries.