Winter cluster
The ball of bees a colony forms in cold weather, generating heat by shivering.
Bees
Definition
Below about 14 °C bees form a ball around the queen. The outer bees pack tightly into an insulating mantle; the inner bees shiver to generate heat. The surface is held around 8 to 10 °C and the centre at 20 to 25 °C, rising to brood temperature when laying resumes. Bees rotate between mantle and core.
See also
Other bees terms
Sources
Sources
- The Lives of Bees: The Untold Story of the Honey Bee in the Wild — Princeton University Press (2019) · Monograph
- The Biology of the Honey Bee — Harvard University Press (1987) · Textbook
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