Bees freezing at night?

[ledifni]

So lately, here in Texas, we've been having cold weather with a nice warm sun around midday to early afternoon.  Every day the bees start coming out and foraging (bringing pollen back even) but in the evening, it seems there are always 5-10 bees that don't quite make it back inside and just end up freezing on the porch.  I'm worried that at this rate the population of the hive will slowly drop to almost nothing by the end of winter.  Is this normal?  Is there anything I can do to prevent it?

[hamptor]

After freezing nights (and days)  I always see a few dead ones on their front porch.  I figured it was just natural attrition. 
Sometimes I'll see them dragging a dead bee out of the hive after a freezing night.  Guess their just keeping their house tidy.

[Riverrat]

If they are returning foragers they are old bees and no lose to the hive.  Bees will reduce in numbers through out the winter.  It usually the older bees that die off.  Going into winter  you  want to try to overwinter young bees.  Don't worry about them just make sure you got good ventilation at the top of the hive to keep  condensation from forming

[Perry]

What riverrat said. 4 to 5 bees is nothing, 400 to 500 would set off an alarm bell.

[Jen]

Siiiigh, I am such a bee mom. I have often gathered some bees that look cold and dormant and put them on the top of the hive lid where the sun is and let the sun warm them up. They come around and are soon gone. Sometimes I have even brought them into the house and put them on a sunny window sill, they come out of it and I gather them in my palm and take them back out to the hive.

Now you can't convince me that you guys out there haven't done the same thing a time or two... or three or four 

[apisbees]

What Jen said when they get caught out in the cold they will stop flying and wait for the temp to rise. A friend gathered some dead bees for a 3rd grade teacher for her students to examin picked them off the ground in front of the hive, toke them into the honey house by the time the teacher came to pick them up about 1/2 were alive and active.
And what river rat said about old forager bees and ther usefulness to the hive is diminishing as their days are numbered.

[Jen]

Hey Apis! Long Time No Hear From 

[ledifni]

Siiiigh, I am such a bee mom. I have often gathered some bees that look cold and dormant and put them on the top of the hive lid where the sun is and let the sun warm them up. They come around and are soon gone. Sometimes I have even brought them into the house and put them on a sunny window sill, they come out of it and I gather them in my palm and take them back out to the hive.

Now you can't convince me that you guys out there haven't done the same thing a time or two... or three or four 

Haha yes.  All the time.  I'm constantly rescuing my bees even though I know it barely makes a difference   Can't stand to see the poor girls in trouble though.

Also I've figured out that you can carry a bee anywhere if you just smear a bit of honey on your finger.  It's a great way to get a stray bee or two out of the house

[ledifni]

What Jen said when they get caught out in the cold they will stop flying and wait for the temp to rise. A friend gathered some dead bees for a 3rd grade teacher for her students to examin picked them off the ground in front of the hive, toke them into the honey house by the time the teacher came to pick them up about 1/2 were alive and active.
And what river rat said about old forager bees and ther usefulness to the hive is diminishing as their days are numbered.

True, but it's been freezing at night lately, and the bees that are out in a freeze don't seem to wake up.  I've seen plenty of cold ones come back to life though

[Jen]

Hi Led  you remind soo much of me back in January when I joined this forum. Your curiousity and concern for your bees is inspiring.

One teaching that I have hung onto from my forum friends is that.. it's not the cold so much.. as it is dampness and wind. Healthy bees know how to keep the cluster warm. It is disheartening to see the ones left out of the hive and are stiff and frozen. That kills me. so the mom in me gathers them on cold days with no sun, that's when I bring them into the house for 1/2 hour.

I try also to keep in mind that soo many beekeepers have their bee yards miles away from where they live and they don't have the opportunity to 'save' the straglers that come in like we can do. In that case, bees just come and go, live and die, the way nature intended them to do.

But until I have hives that are away from my backyard.... I Will Still Save Those Stragglers 

[LazyBkpr]

heheh..   Cant say I have ever tried warming up bees..   When the temps are cold, the house bees will carry out dead bees, and because it is cold, they do NOT carry them away, they leave them on the front porch, so you will notice them, while in warm weather they ended up in the grass somewhere so you didnt notice them..

[Riverrat]

heheh..   Cant say I have ever tried warming up bees..   

I got to say Im with scott on this one.  I have spent a many of cold nights laying in bed wondering if the hives was going to make it through. But I never did bring them in or try to revive them

[tbonekel]

I remember last year when we had that ice and snow around for so long. I saw dead bees everywhere! I was really concerned. They were easy to see on the snow.  We really don't know how many die on a daily basis.

[Gypsi]

Good for you jen. I don't bring them in my house, I shove them in the front door of theirs.

[Jen]

The bees that I usually bring in for about 1/2 hour are the ones clinging to the outside of the robbing screen. I envision them returning to the hive after a poop run and they're too cold to climb back into the hive 

[Riverrat]

I can help myself Jen.  I have to ask is this what you use to transport the bees to the house.

[ledifni]

The bees that I usually bring in for about 1/2 hour are the ones clinging to the outside of the robbing screen. I envision them returning to the hive after a poop run and they're too cold to climb back into the hive 

Mostly I let the hive take care of its own; if they're already at the hive, the most I'll do is put them back at the entrance and hope they crawl in when the sun gets warm.  But for instance, lots of bees got stuck in stray honey when I cut out the combs from the hive Gypsi collected a few weeks back...I spent maybe two hours picking out sticky bees from that mess, carrying them back to the hive, and letting their sisters lick them clean.  I feel like I did some good

[Jen]

RR- "I can't help myself Jen.  I have to ask is this what you use to transport the bees to the house.

    Still have the bee ambulance RR, but I use this now... Too hard fighting traffic especially when every second counts 

[Gypsi]

Good for you Ledifini!  I do the same if I can.  and Jen, that chopper is pretty nice for bee transport

[riverbee]

led, your a good keep, at some point you will learn to recognize normal hive behaviors, such as dead bees on the front porch and won't worry so much.
can't say that you will ever stop worrying about the bees, but it does get better......

last weekend, i went to wrap the hive and put insulation on top underneath the outer cover. it was about 20' d F i guess. i forgot this outer cover was a newer one that fit tight onto the inner cover, and when i pulled the outer cover off, the inner cover came with it......oops..........
quickly put it back down, and pried the inner cover from underneath with the hive tool. what a task that was, without lifting the outer cover. meanwhile i heard the bees starting to ramp up......oops.
i could have kicked myself and mumbled some non disney language about the outer cover.  i am quite certain, the bees were thinking i was a newbee, and just let all the heat from the cluster out of the box, i know i thought so, and maybe disturbing the cluster.   i saw a few bees shoot out through a small gap in the snow and ice covered entrance reducer. i jammed some more snow in there so others couldn't get out.........   the few bees that did fly out, as soon as they hit that cold air, they were goners in seconds, and i couldn't exactly shove them back in.....  

did i worry a little?........i did, and i sure was cussing myself........
note to self: fix the outer cover.....