On Fri, Dec 30, 2016 at 2:07 PM, Rusty Burlew > wrote:

> I've read that so-called winter bees begin to appear in September and
> October, at least in parts of the northern hemisphere with cold winters.
> How long does the production of winter bees last and when do "summer" bees
> begin to replace them? What triggers the switch back to the shorter-lived
> summer bees? Thank you.
>

I understands still no agreement on when a colony starts to rise winter
bees. I follow Matilla and Otis and blame autumn dearth as the trigger.

On the other hand, there is no clear replacement. I believe this is a
process, starts slow (mid winter) and finish suddendly (at mid spring). The
length depends on nutrition of winter bees when young bees (first 8 to 12
days post emergence)  and particularly on lipids availability in their
bodies compared to work done.

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