It’s been a tough winter. I know it’s been tough for me, but I suspect it has been worse for the bees.

Many people think that honey bees, like other common insects, either die at first frost or simply hibernate during winter months and emerge after spring thaw.

Nope.

Honey bees keep the hive a cozy 90- to 95-degrees throughout winter, even when the mercury dips below zero. The bees cluster in a large ball, about the size of a basketball, and flex their wing muscles to generate heat. Worker bees take turns being on the outside of the cluster, possibly moving at a slower pace but constantly moving. At the center of that tight cluster is the honored queen, who is on vacation from laying eggs until spring.

It takes a large group of bees to maintain a warm hive. Although worker bees are not raising little ones, they need every bit of energy to survive. All other bee activity stops – cleaning and building comb, guarding the hive, making honey, foraging.

In warm weather, there are many jobs for all workers and bees live only about six weeks. But in winter, workers live for up to five months. No new bees are born at that time, so when bees die from disease or hunger, the population in a hive can drop to dangerously low levels. If the cluster is too small, all bees perish.

That’s why it’s important to have healthy bees in the fall. These are the bees that will live throughout the winter. They must be able to keep the hive warm, get at food stores and survive under trying conditions.

Beekeepers can help by locating hives in areas sheltered from cold north winds. We use a bee quilt, a black plastic covering that goes around the hive body (the color absorbs radiant heat). And we put a foam core board under the top cover to reduce moisture that can collect during variable winter temperatures.

Today my husband cleaned snow from around the front of the hive. We expect temperatures to get into the 40s and 50s this week, warm enough for the bees to fly. Bees need to get out of the hive every month or so just to relieve themselves (they will not poop in the hive, bless them!).

On that first warm day I will peek under the lid to see how the bees are faring. I hope they’ve found the winter patty I left on top of the bee frames last fall, and that they’ve been getting into their honey stores.

If I’m lucky – and the bees have done their thing — I’ll find evidence that our bees are still with us!