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10-Minute Presentation

Plant-Insect Ecosystems

10-min: P-IE, Apiculture

Does the time worker honey bees spend in cluster contribute to the transition from summer to winter bees?

Sunday, November 10, 2024
1:48 PM – 2:00 PM MST
Location: Phoenix Convention Center, 221 C, PCC
Oral Presentation
Worker honey bees prepare for winter by transitioning from brood rearing summer bees to food storing winter bees. Colonies with winter bees have, among other attributes, little or no brood and workers with fat bodies containing high concentrations of lipids. Though several environmental and nutrition-related factors have been proposed as contributing to the formation of winter bees in the fall, field validation has been inconsistent. One factor not yet considered that might contribute to the transition from summer to winter bees is the time colonies spend in cluster. Honey bees form a thermoregulated cluster when ambient temperatures drop below 10oC. We tested the hypothesis that time spent in cluster could predict the end of brood rearing and increased storage of fat body lipids in colonies at five locations across the U.S. We found that brood areas declined predictably with increases in time spent in cluster and that brood declines started at different calendar dates depending on weather and colony locations. Validation of winter bees from fat body metrics is being determined. With climate change extending the period with warm temperatures in the fall, determining if time in cluster affects the formation of winter bees could be useful for overwintering management and choices of winter apiary sites in the future.