Explanation
The honey bee colony through the seasons
In temperate climates, the colony changes its priorities and activity with the seasons: in spring and summer it raises new bees; in autumn it prepares for winter, when it may cluster to conserve heat. The pollen available also varies by season and place.
A perennial colony, not a nest that starts over each year
Honey bee colonies are perennial: they can survive for more than a year. This distinguishes them, for example, from the annual bumblebee colonies described for the American Midwest, which are not a model for explaining the honey bee’s cycle.
Spring and summer: raising new bees
In spring and summer, the colony focuses its activity on raising new bees. Pollen provides protein; nurse bees use it to produce jelly, which feeds the queen and larvae. Floral resources are therefore linked to the capacity to rear brood.
Autumn: brood rearing changes, and pollen matters too
Toward the end of summer and during autumn, brood rearing gradually declines. Autumn pollen is not the same everywhere: in the study cited by the USDA, autumn flowers in Iowa offered higher levels of some nutrients that could benefit colonies confined by cold as they overwinter. In Arizona, where bees are not usually confined for long periods in winter, their needs may be different. These are findings from two specific places, not a universal feeding calendar.
Winter: clustering regulates temperature
When temperatures fall, a colony may have little or no brood. The bees remain in the hive, forming a compact cluster around the queen and regulating its temperature. Workers and the queen survive the winter in this cluster; the bees consume honey and generate heat to keep the cluster from freezing.
The calendar depends on place and management
Seasons do not bring the same flowers or resources in every region. In the USDA study, spring pollen sources differed between Iowa and Arizona, although their pollen shared several nutrients; in autumn, both the flowers and the nutrients observed differed. These findings therefore describe those places and do not establish identical months or needs for every colony in a temperate climate.
Commercial pollination is not the whole annual cycle
In colonies rented for pollination, strength can vary with the time of use: the Oregon State publication notes that colonies used for fruit trees at the beginning of the season will not be as strong as those same colonies later, when they are used for field crops. This is an example of management and a production schedule, not a complete description of a colony’s annual life.
Sources
- Cold Storage Overview · www.ars.usda.gov
- Pollens to Fit A Honey Bee's Every Season · www.ars.usda.gov
- Evaluating honey bee colonies for pollination · Oregon State University Extension
- Wasps and bees · University of Minnesota Extension