What's new on the farm:
Happy first day of fall!
Fall weather is here in Saskatoon and the bees sure know it.
The cooler mornings and changing seasons trigger a host of new behaviors that are important for the bees to get ready for winter.
Female worker bees start ridding the hive of anything in excess that won't contribute towards winter survival...like the male drone bees.
Spend enough time watching the entrance of the hive, and you'll see the ladies dragging the boys out kicking and screaming.
The queens also start slowing down their egg-laying so that there aren't too many bees to use up their winter stores.
Speaking of winter stores, have you ever wondered why honeybees make honey, but other insects don't? Guess what: it has everything to do with winter!
For honeybees, the entire colony survives year-round, so like the squirrel that hides their nuts in preparation for winter, honeybees make and store honey to consume throughout the winter.
Other insects and bees like bumblebees and wasps do make a nectar-rich food that they consume during the summer.
But since they only leave behind a single queen during the winter, and the rest of the colony doesn't survive, they don't need to hoard food away like honeybees do. They end up only making just enough to feed their colony in the summer.
Honeybees on the other hand will store as much honey as there is nectar in the fields...we have had years where they will collect over 300 lbs in a single hive! (Not this year though...)
They only end up needing about 90-100 lbs of it to last the winter, which is why beekeepers are able to take the extra and share it with our lovely customers!
