Summer vs Winter Bees
If you’ve been part of the Just Bee community for a while, you’ll know that not all bees are created equal, especially when it comes to the seasons. A hive in summer behaves entirely differently from one in the depths of winter, and the bees themselves adapt in some remarkable ways to ensure the survival of the colony.
Summer bees are essentially the workforce of the hive. They’re born into abundance, raised quickly, and trained to get straight to work. Their life cycle is short, typically 5 to 6 weeks, because they burn through their energy rapidly, constantly flying out to forage, cleaning cells, tending to brood, and even regulating the hive temperature by fanning their wings. These bees have smaller fat bodies, which means they’re designed for action, not longevity. The wear and tear of daily flights and the sheer pace of summer activity mean their lives, though vital, are fleeting.
In contrast, winter bees are bred for endurance. As the days shorten and temperatures drop, the queen slows her egg laying, and her offspring starts to have a very different physiological makeup. Winter bees develop with larger fat bodies and higher levels of vitellogenin, a protein that supports both immune function and fat storage. This biological shift allows them to live up to six months, serving as the hive’s core heating system. They don’t forage, instead, they cluster tightly around the queen and slowly consume stored honey to keep warm, vibrating their wing muscles to generate heat. The cluster temperature remains around 20–30°C, even if it’s freezing outside.
One particularly interesting difference is that summer bees don’t overlap much with winter bees, each generation knows its season. Winter bees are raised in autumn and slowly phase out by spring, replaced by a new generation ready to take on the foraging role.
Understanding these seasonal roles highlights just how sophisticated and self-regulating a hive really is. The bees instinctively adapt to the environment, managing internal resources, population levels, and even physiology with precision.
At Just Bee, we never stop being amazed by this natural intelligence. So next time you spot a bee mid-summer, spare a thought for the winter bees who kept their hive alive through the cold, dark months, buzzing quietly behind the scenes.
Hello,
My honey not strong enough. I love the waxy honey comb honey from the hive that I can find in our holiday hotel. My grandfather used to keep bees and I have fond memories of his tasty treats.
Your story about the bees is fascinating. They are very clever. Just hope they do not sting me because I have an allergy to bee stings.
Good luck with your expansion.
What a wonderful story.
I never knew there were summer and winter bees thank you for the insight.
Loved reading about the bees . When my husband was alive he kept bees in a farmers field. In winter he would make up sugar water and we used to go over and feed them. Of course in summer we collected the honey. I used to help extracting and bottling the pure honey. Happy memories!
What a fascinating story above the life cycle of bees. I used to live next door to someone with bee hives in Cornwall and he often gave me the honeycombs which are gorgeous.
Wonderful and made me quite emotional too!