Did you know that honey bees do not hibernate during the winter months? David Williams, from Mansfield, owns around 40-60,000 thousand honey bees, and some of them are huddled inside the homemade wooden boxes found in Williams’ backyard.
“A lot of people think they hibernate in the winter. They actually just stay in a cluster. They keep that cluster at about 95 degrees; it doesn’t matter how cold it is outside,” said Williams.
He said some people try to mask the wind with different types of wrap and insulation. He prefers to keep honey bees “like the old timers.” He said his father used to own honey bees and that he would never try to keep them warm. And it worked.
“We always had honey on the table growing up,” said Williams.
Since around 2006, honey bees in the U.S. started mysteriously dying. The epidemic became known as Colony Collapse Disorder. The disorder has been responsible for killing as much as one-third of the nation’s honey bees.
That’s a concern because honey bees play a significant role in pollinating crops.
To keep his honey bees alive during the frigid temperatures in the winter, Williams uses a couple of tactics that he’s learned from his father and uncle.
Varroa mites are the biggest problem bee keepers face. By feeding off honey bee fluids, the mite transmits a disease called varroatosis that is fatally harmful to the bees. Williams sprinkles a coat of powdered sugar onto the bees, which helps them shake off the mites. He also installs a screened bottom board in all of his hives for the mites to fall through. The pique times for the varroa mite is usually during Spring and Autumn months.
Williams explained that the key to keeping honey bees alive in the winter is to provide as much food as possible: honey. When the bees run out of honey, they become inactive and cannot keep themselves warm enough to survive. However, sometimes they run out of honey. For this problem Williams installs a sugar brick on the top board inside of his hives. The sugar gives them extra food and absorbs excess moisture- another hazard in keeping bees. The more moisture, the more likely a hive will freeze, which depending on the size of the colony, can be devastating.
Simply put, bees need food during the winter to have enough strength to fight off the wintry elements. If they have no food, they have no strength to keep warm, which is done by huddling up in one large cluster. The larger the cluster, the more food they need.
This is what happened to one of William’s new hives this year. The cluster was simply not big enough to generate enough heat to move from one place to another within the hive. Williams explains in further detail in the video below.
Williams raises his honey bees natually. He does not spray them with chemicals to keep them alive. He admits that not using chemicals is harder work on his part, but that it is worth having chemical free honey and wax.
In addition to honey, he and his wife, Brenda, make lip balms and hand lotion from bees wax. They call their products Precious Bee Creations and will be constructing a website later in the year.
Williams owns a total of 17 hives and four bee yards in Richland County. He became seriously interested in bee keeping when he noticed his fruit trees failing to produce fruit. He found out they were not pollinated sufficiently. Around that time, his wife’s friend needed a hive removed from her yard. Williams intended only to remove the hive, but ended up taking it to his house. He said ever since then he “caught the bug” and his love for keeping bees started.
Williams also removes swarms for free. If you encounter a swarm of honey bees, or would like to try some of his natural bee products, he can be reached at 419-544-3110.
