The previously mild winter weather in Bavaria poses new challenges for bee colonies. If the temperatures rise above ten degrees, bees usually fly out, as Inga Klingner from the Bavarian Beekeepers Association in Nuremberg said. This increases their energy consumption, while at the same time the little animals hardly find any food. The queen of the bee colony, for example, is already laying her eggs at such mild temperatures.
The queen should take it easy in winter, explained Klingner. The workers of the bee colony then had to take care of the brood and went in search of food. There are usually enough of these only from February and March. Beekeepers therefore need to pay more attention to the bees than in really cold winters. According to Klingner, such a situation should occur more often in the future. “We need to rethink and adapt our beekeeping practice.”
So that the bees do not starve, beekeepers usually intervene and provide the bees with enough food. As soon as the first spring flowers ensure that the landscape is green, the bees will find enough food on their own. When that will happen always depends on the weather. If, for example, it is cold and rainy well into spring, as in 2021, beekeepers would have to keep an eye on their bees for longer.