It’s time for the final update of a year in the life of the bee colony TBL has been sponsoring. And as Rachael Davies explains, winter has had a few shocks in store for the hive.
After a steady winter, our sponsored TBL hive has been hit by a classic curveball, a sharp snap of snow and frost in January. Before we talk about the cold, here is a quick reminder of how our honeybees usually ride out winter.
Honey bees form a tight cluster around the queen, humming their flight muscles generate heat and keep the heart of the cluster warm. They eat through their stored honey, inching across the comb together so the colony stays fed. On milder days they may take quick “cleansing flights”, then settle back in. Success depends on three things: enough food, the ability to move to it, and dry, ventilated space so condensation does not chill the cluster.
Beating the odds
A sudden freeze can upset that balance. If a mild spell has already kicked off brood rearing, energy needs jump and honey vanishes faster. A hard frost then forces the bees to pull into a tighter cluster, which can make it difficult to reach honey only a few combs away. Snow can block entrances, poor ventilation can lead to damp, and a cold snap at the wrong time can test even well-prepared colonies. In short, if stores are thin or the cluster cannot move safely to them, the risk to the colony survival rises.
The good news is that preparation helps. Adequate autumn stores, insulation with consistent ventilation, and midwinter “heft” checks or fondant top-ups all improve the odds. Our beekeeper has done the right things, but both bees and weather are naturally uncontrollable.
Ending on a sweet note
Over the Christmas period every TBL employee received a portion of the hive’s honey to enjoy. That golden jar represented thousands of foraging trips and careful stewardship through the seasons.
What happens next? As temperatures climb, the colony will test flight, expand brood, and shift from survival to springtime prep. Only time will tell whether the January freeze was a speed bump or a full stop. We’ll know more as the days lengthen and the first pollen returns.
With this update, our beehive sponsorship with The Harrop Honey Co. comes to a close for the 2024 – 2025 season. It has been a pleasure sharing a year in the life of TBL’s bees. Here’s to longer days, early blossoms, and a healthy buzz in spring.
