Winter bees

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Gaz1

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It's my understanding the 'winter bees' have a different make up to 'Spring-summer bees' but out of intrest what is it that triggers the colony to produce winter bees? Is it temperature? Shortening daylight? It was Autumn treatment that got me wondering just When do they start winter brood? Just curious really
 
It's my understanding the 'winter bees' have a different make up to 'Spring-summer bees' but out of intrest what is it that triggers the colony to produce winter bees? Is it temperature? Shortening daylight? It was Autumn treatment that got me wondering just When do they start winter brood? Just curious really

No difference whatsoever - just a term for bees born in the autumn that will live throughout the winter and which the colony will be dependent on to rfaise new bees in the spring.
 
No difference whatsoever - just a term for bees born in the autumn that will live throughout the winter and which the colony will be dependent on to rfaise new bees in the spring.

Ah right cheers! sure I read somewhere they were different, suppose you can't trust everyithing you read on the internet :icon_204-2::icon_204-2::icon_204-2:
 
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Germans have cleared out secrets of winterbees over 60 years ago.

You can read all from internet.
 
No difference whatsoever - just a term for bees born in the autumn that will live throughout the winter and which the colony will be dependent on to rfaise new bees in the spring.

You are badly wrong. There are big differencies in bees. One basic thing is that those which feed larvae, will not live up to clustering.
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Read from google: Winter bee physiology
 
Shortening daylight?

That is and short of pollen in nature is one tricker.

Genes is one, how bee strain's biological calendar is adapted local nature.

If in Finland bees have emerged in July, they winter well if they did not had much larvae in autumn.
 
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My winter bees are wearing white cloaks on their shoulders..
 
Don't winter bees have greater fat stores ?

They have so called vitallogen tissues here and there. Most are in abdomen. Vitallogen is in all insects as a food store.

In bees it is said fat body, but it is not mere fat. The more protein bees have in autumn, the better bees survive over winter. Protein content drops greatly during Winter. Content can become back partly, if bees get high Value protein in spring.

When bees emerge, they eate much pollen during first 3 days. If bees do not get that pollen in autumn, they will be bad winterers.
 
Let's get this straight - bees are bees - winter, summer spring or autumn.
The only 'difference' is that winter bees, because they haven't got to do as much brood rearing and thus wear themselves out brood food producing etc are able to last longer than summer bees who firstly stress their bodies producing brood food then completely knacker themselves foraging dawn 'til dusk.
The queen doesn't lay different eggs or anything, they all emerge exactly the same - it's the stresses on their bodies afterwards that make them a little different
 
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Everyone, who wants to know, just print google :"winter bee physiology".
Open that, and you see, how much ready knowledge we have.
 
Let's get this straight - bees are bees - winter, summer spring or autumn.
The only 'difference' is that winter bees, because they haven't got to do as much brood rearing and thus wear themselves out brood food producing etc are able to last longer than summer bees who firstly stress their bodies producing brood food then completely knacker themselves foraging dawn 'til dusk.
The queen doesn't lay different eggs or anything, they all emerge exactly the same - it's the stresses on their bodies afterwards that make them a little different

In my limited experience, I would have to agree with JBM. It's not rocket science.
 
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In my limited experience, I would have to agree with JBM. It's not rocket science.

Gary. This is rocket science when we look the time when these issues have been revieled out.

"limited experience" against university researching. But let it be.




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In my limited experience, I would have to agree with JBM. It's not rocket science.

In beekeeping the phrase "it's not rocket science" is usually followed by the comment "it's far more complicated". :)
 
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I am sorry JBM and your acolytes. What you are saying is a little too simplistic. From my reading Finman is closer to the full facts. Winter bees have a differing physiology. They are fed slightly differently as larvae and have greater stores of fat.
 
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