NEW YORK—The unpredictably warm weather has disrupted the natural cycle of feeding for New York’s bees, forcing beekeepers to supplement natural sources of food and putting hives at risk.
The warm weather enables bees to leave the hive and fly, and mill around inside. Beekeepers want their bees to cluster and not waste energy or stored honey.
“When the night turns chilly, as many have, the bees may not cluster quickly enough, and some may die from the nightly cold,” says Jim Fischer, an event organizer with New York City Beekeeping, in an email. “The back-and-forth between ‘active’ and ’must cluster to survive' is very hard on the bees, and is certain to kill more hives than would survive a normal winter.”
“There have been many days above 50 degrees Fahrenheit throughout this non-winter,” says Fischer. “Above 50 degrees Fahrenheit, some honey bees from each hive can fly. Above 55 F, all honey bees in a hive can fly.”
