Monday, March 1, 2021

chilled brood 2021

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beekeeping,bee,hivemind,tipping point,winter,chilled brood,

I discovered these dragged out and chewed brood parts on the hive landing board. Deconstructed brood makes it difficult to identify brood gender and to understand the hivemind.   Is the hive responding to:
  • chilled brood (death by exposure to cold) - are the number of adult bees out of sync with the ability to keep the peripheral brood warm?
  • cell reallocation pressures - removing brood to store:
    • honey?
    • pollen?
    • raise more workers?
    • reduce the number of drones?
beekeeping,bee,hivemind,tipping point,winter,chilled brood,

February ended with a sunny warming trend, then March temperatures began with a small cooling correction. From the temperature table, it's not obvious that we crossed a tipping point on March 1st. Perhaps the hivesmind can forecast temperatures and foraging opportunities days or weeks in advance and therefore the hive experiences this tipping point in ways that make my analysis look too simplistic.

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