I have had some feed drums out for weeks and the bees were there in fair 
numbers even at 5 degrees C. -- not like when it is hot, but pretty 
respectable numbers, and they would take a few inches a day.

Yesterday, after all the rain, I had thought I was smart moving the feed 
drums under cover to avoid the rain (100 feet from where they had been). 
Apparently not.

On cooler days than today, bees were in the drums every day, but today --  
and it is warm today, but not really warm -- 9 degrees C  -- there was 
hardly a bee in the drums.

I was readying the hives  for winter and found that today they were much 
more difficult to work -- I actually had to put on my veil at one point! 
Something changed, and maybe that was it.  The foragers were idle.

I guess foragers work in cold weather, but scouts need warmer weather since 
their work is more risky.

Foragers are doing a job that almost always brings in more energy than it 
consumes, but scouting uses up energy and may result in failure.  As a 
result, when the feed was not where they expected it, the bees  just went 
home and stayed, evn4e though it was nearby.

Interesting! 

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