Suicide in the snow

[CB008]

For the past few days my hives have been surrounded by 6 inches of snow and the weather has been overcast. This afternoon we had about 30 minutes of sunshine and I was amazed at how many bees ventured out and perished in the snow, dotting it with their dead bodies. I have now blocked each entrance but a sad lesson none the less !

 

[RogueDrone]

Did you actually see them come out just, wondering if house bees had been cleaning up.

 

[Ivor Kemp]

How do you know that these weren't bees that already died in the hive over time? The sunshine instigated the living bees to an undertaker job and throw the dead bodies out.

This happens on mine all the time. I've watched them do it!

 

[CB008]

No I saw them still flying out. Within seconds the cold got to them and they collapsed in the snow. This picture only shows some of them. I rsuhed to get blocks as soon as possible or I would have lost hundreds of bees - hence my warning. I had read before about protecting from sunlight in the snow but this all happened so quickly and it was lucky that I was at home.

 

[Ely]

They get disorientated by snow. They don't recognise their surroundings. Makes them clumsy, as if they don't know which direction to fly and eventually dive bomb into the snow

 

[Midland Beek]

They get disorientated by snow. They don't recognise their surroundings. Makes them clumsy, as if they don't know which direction to fly and eventually dive bomb into the snow

Yes. But I think that's only part of the story. I would also think that the UV glare from snow has a role into luring them out of the hive in the first place when it is ordinarily much too cold for them to fly.

 

[phil edwards]

WE put sawdust in front of our hives over hear in the snow it gives the bees something to land on before the hive stops them freezing if they land before entering the hive don't no if this will help. phil

 

[drstitson]

many of us lean boards across the hive entrance when snow is on the ground - stops the bees seeing the reflected polarised light and venturing out.

 

[Finman]

.
That is very usual. When sun shines, they must come out. Why? Perhaps they are sick and must make poo, or something. They are not able to return to the hive because it is too cold. If weather is over +5C and sun shines, the sun warm them up and they may fly back to entrance.

If you disturb hives in this situation, they may burst out hundreds.

If you look closely and put that clumsy bee on landing board, it does not understand, where to go. It seems that thin antennae freeze first.

.

 

[oliver90owner]

Let's get the basics out of the way. Bees don't do house cleaning duty in very cold weather - they get their priorities right much better than some beeks think. Undertaking duties are only carried out in warm weather, not cold bright weather, in my experience.

Glare: Snow reflects the light; this may add to the intensity incident on the hive entrance (direct from sun + the reflection). Snow reflections are also plane polarised so this may also affect the bees. It is likely that these affected hives had their entrances directly towards the low sun angle or had OMFs which may allow even more light into the hive, to further befuddle the bees.

Precautions, dependent on circumstances are required, not for every colony in the land.

 

[Finman]

Glare: Snow reflects the light; this may add to the intensity incident.

However, if a bee has full sense, it does come out in freezing weather.
And look, some hives are very silent.

I may see bees on snow even if temp is -15C
.

 

[Dishmop]

If you had picked them up and warmed them chances are they would have revived but then they will probably just land in the snow again.

 

[keith pierce]

The three simple eyes (ocelli) on top of a bee's head are light detectors, whose purpose is to detect where the strongest light is coming from. In daylight this is almost always from above. So this tells the bees which way is UP. When you get a strong light reflection from snowfall the bees get confused messages and try to fly upside down, ending up in the snow. They can see UV light reflecting off the snow and they think the snow is the sky! You will see them come out of the hive and spin around on their backs in circles trying to fly, before they circum to the cold. In cold weather the bees are quickly chilled and are unable to return to the hive. You will actually see them in little cups in the snow as the heat from the little bodies melts the snow around them. Experience has shown that for the most part these are the hives that will survive the winter. The more dead bees laying in the snow, the healthier the hive.These problems can be avoided by shading the entrance with a board leaning against. I myself never bother shading the entrances. I have on several occasions, taken a dozen or so into the house in a
matchbox to send of for diagnosis, and when they warmed up I could hear a bussing coming from the box and over half of them had come to life.

 

[QueenMaster]

I have closed hive entrances to prevent this happening.

 

[Little John]

many of us lean boards across the hive entrance when snow is on the ground - stops the bees seeing the reflected polarised light and venturing out.

Simple, but it works:

 

[Finman]

I have closed hive entrances to prevent this happening.

Not wise at all. They must get out.

We have here contonuous snow here 4 month. No one slose entarnce.
If the hive has nosema or something wrong, it flyes out bee by bee the whole winter.

we have here now -10C and every day some bees come out.

 

[susbees]

Somewhere I read that Italian strains are more prone to this - anyone have any direct evidence? Used to put green galebreaker mesh at 45˚ off the roof with rocks to hold it but too many hives now.

 

[keith pierce]

Simple, but it works:

Hi littel john . What type of hive have you got.And what sitting on top of the brood boxes

 

[Finman]

Somewhere I read that Italian strains are more prone to this - anyone have any direct evidence? Used to put green galebreaker mesh at 45˚ off the roof with rocks to hold it but too many hives now.

I have kept Italians 40 years.
If I have 20 hives, perhaps 2 hives have something wrong like nosema, and they fly out.

There is nothing mysterious in that if few bees fly out on snow.
More unusual is that UK has snowcover.

"Sick bees come to die out and in cold they die in".

We had just now the same discussion in our Forum here.



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[Hivemaker.]

There is nothing mysterious in that if few bees fly out on snow.
"Sick bees come to die out and in cold they die in".
.

I agree, most of them are old or sick bees, they come out to die anyway, just that we don't normally see them until there is snow.