Last week we had some really cold weather hit Ireland and our hives in Wicklow, just south of Dublin, were snowed in, as you can see in the below picture. We visit the apiary to check in after the storm and clear the landing boards, just to give them a little hand.

Bees can cope well during a cold spell like this (as long as it doesn’t last for too long!) as they regulate the temperature within the hive through their winter cluster. The worker bees actively generate heat by shivering - vibrating their flight muscles but keeping their wings still, which raises their body temperatures. With thousands of bees constantly shivering, the temperature at the centre of the cluster warms up to about 35° C. When the workers on the outer edge of the cluster get cold, they push to the centre of the group, and other bees take a turn shielding the group from the winter weather.