•December 28, 2022•
By Jerry L. Ginther

In a word, they consume. They consume the product of their summer long labors. Honey is the product and is the fuel for heat, nutrition, and the colony’s survival during the cold winter months.
The colony’s preparations for the long winter months begins long before the last nectar producing blooms fade and disappear. House cleaning is in order, and one of those procedures is the removal of all male (drone) bees from the hive. The days of plenty are ending and the drones are denied rights to food and housing. As this process intensifies, the sisters that once fed them will literally deny them entrance to the hive. From that point only the worker bees (female) and the queen will occupy the hive.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.