> So I'm not sure that in these situations these are bees that 'need' to die.
Skepticism with good reason ends in discovery.
I've picked up these bees from the snow and revived them by cupping them in my hands and heating them with exhaled breaths. They first start to twitch and momentarily are fully alive. If they were meant to die, why wouldn't they stay dead? Obviously, they are just in a chill coma. Since bees warm their fight muscles to temperature before they fly, it seems to me they are somehow disorientated and fly into the snow. I've observed bees flying at 38 f, bringing back pollen this spring, and have seen the same in many past springs, so air temp alone doesn't drop bees as soon as they exit the colony.
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