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Our  A.m.m. bees will fly strongly at 8ºC (46ºF) - and we have seen a queen 
 
mate with an air temperature of 5ºC (41ºF)!

But I would not open a  hive if the temperature was below 16ºC (61ºF) - as 
we 
keep saying, all  beekeeping is local.
 
Agree, at this time of year, we've bees flying at mid-40s  F.  We can even 
get them to search for targets at that temp.  Bees  just back from CA may 
not fly at that temp, but our over wintered bees in MT  will.
 
Also, agree with Allen, we do quick inspections at that temp, but try  to 
keep disturbance, chilling to minimum until temperatures are higher.
 
Obviously, flight activity and foraging increase as the  temperature 
increases, usually reaching full potential by the  60s.  
 
FYI, I once had a DARPA Program Officer claim that I was lying,  saying  we 
could get bees to fly at temps as low as the 40s.  He'd  seen a trial in 
which bees didn't fly at 60, so he knew we had to be  wrong.  Of course, the 
trial he observed had bees just moved in from a  different area, placed on a 
desert in mid-winter, with little/no forage  available.
 
Jerry

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