Terry Coombs wrote:
>
> On 2/4/2019 7:35 AM, Gary wrote:
> > Terry Coombs wrote:
> > What do honey bees do in the winter (or at least on cold days),
> > Terry? Hibernate, I assume.
> >
> > I had an odd encounter with a honey bee one nice warm day that
> > then turned extremely cold within an hour. It was 2-3 years ago
> > in January or February. I'll tell the story once you tell me how
> > they normally spend winter days.
>
>  When the temps drop below about 40-50°F they cluster up in a ball .
> Usually in the center of the hive , but the cluster can be anywhere .
> There is a constant circulation of bees from inside to outside and back
> , their body heat produced warms the cluster but not the hive itself .Â
> On warm days they break cluster and go on "cleansing" flights - gotta
> take an occasional dump ya know .

That's just like those idiot penguins that live in Antarctica do.
They do the same thing while stupidly standing out in open land
with full winds hitting them......for months on end.

Same dumb thing that seagulls here do. On an extremely cold and
windy day, they will all stand in a parking lot right at the
oceanfront facing the wind so it doesn't ruffle their feathers.
Dumbasses have a large building right near them....they could
walk over next to that and get out of the wind and be so much
warmer.

But...they all survive so who am I to complain?

Question for you again: When temps fall way below their cluster
thing...like 10F. Do they hibernate or just go into suspended
animation? They must do that or most would all die in winters in
the north. I do know that bumble bees shut down when frozen then
revive when warmed up.