New Study Suggests Honey Bees Need Warmer Hives Than We’ve Been Giving Them

A new study published by The Royal Society Publishing has provided insight into how to best house honey bees in cold temperatures. For a long time, it has been believed that exposing honeybee hives to low temperatures is good for the hive. Domestic honey bees are usually kept in thin-walled hives that provide little insulation. They may even be refrigerated. However, a new study questions the wisdom of these practices.

The study was conducted by Derek Mitchell from the University of Leeds. It showed that a behavior called clustering, during which honey bees huddle together to share body heat, is a survival technique that bees employ as a last-chance effort to survive.

For many years, beekeepers have thought that clustering was, in fact, a positive behavior for bees. Clustering was thought to improve the hive’s health and kill off parasitic mites. However, Mitchell’s paper suggests that clustering is a last-ditch effort at survival for the insects. 

During clustering, bees huddle close together. It has long been believed that this behavior helps to insulate them from cold temperatures. Mitchell found that clustering causes the overall heat loss of the hive to increase. What is happening during clustering is an effort by the bees at the outer edges of the group to maintain a life-sustaining temperature of 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit). 

These findings suggest that keeping honey bees in hives with little insulation may increase stress on the hive. Wild honey bees typically spend winters in well-insulated tree trunks that are typically warmer than thin-walled hives. This new study suggests that providing honey bee hives with better-insulated homes may be beneficial.

More research is needed to fully understand the effects of cold temperatures on honey bees. Some research does suggest that refrigerating queen bees may help them to survive during hot summers. 

As most people now know, bees are pretty important. These little insects pollinate many of our crops. Roughly one-third of the world’s food supply is dependent on bees. However, many species of bees are facing steep population declines. This threatens not only food security but also biodiversity. Even domestic honey bees are losing population at an alarming rate. Over the past year, nearly half of all managed colonies in the United States died. Reasons for honey bee population loss include parasites, pesticides, Climate change, and starvation. 

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