Winter bees activity

[Alfred]

I checked up on the bees yesterday with a mild frost on the ground
Through the perspex they all seemed to be moving around and some venturing away from their clusters for food
As the morning went on the sun came out and the temps went up to 11c
All the hives had landing board "meetings" but one in particular had a significant amount of what I had considered to be orientation flights
Do winter bees need to do that?
I'm confident it wasn't a robbing having focussed on individual bees movement patterns
What's the opinion?

[Patrick]

Maybe popping out for a poop?

Its so mild (and wet) here, I have had some bees flying most days I was able to check at midday. It’s certainly noticeable some hives are much more active than others, either flying earlier or when others are not. I consider it arguably a downside regarding wintering but a positive regarding the rest of the year. As long as you keep a good handle on their stores, they may come out of winter earlier and stronger? Here’s hoping..

[NigelP]

Alfred they trend to do this after being confined for several days/weeks. It's one of the reasons you can move a hive a few meters in winter without losing many bees.
For what it's worth bees will reorient if you rotate their hive by 45 degrees.....It's the return journey from forage that can cause problems/big grin/

[Alfred]

Thanks chaps
It was just that it was just one hive doing it with all the others a lot less energetic.
This was a swarm that was quite puny and didn't excel in anything until late season when they seemed to pick up the pace to match the other colonies.
This is one of two that I'm experimenting with fondant only feeding( actually I ran out of rapid feeders...) so we will see.

[NigelP]

Thanks chaps
It was just that it was just one hive doing it with all the others a lot less energetic.

Blink and you miss it.....different hives seem to become active at different times in the winter warmth. You can have one hive buzzing with activity whilst all around are quiet. Go back in 20 minutes (or whatever) later and that hive is now quiet and another (or others) can now be active.

[MickBBKA]

There can be huge differences in activity from colonies in the same location. I always keep a couple of colonies at home over winter and some are very happy to still forage at 4C as long as there is no wind which is the most important factor where I am. One colony last year was drinking the melting snow on the hive roof at 2C. Others are tucked up anything below 8C. All of my bees fly at 10C or above wind allowing.

Ignore BBKA guidance about bees clustering at certain temps........They are way out of touch.