Is it spring yet?

Another check on the hives and both have survived another whirl of the arctic vortex! In fact, there is enough sun to warm them sufficiently that some flights and housekeeping have taken place. This is a worker from hive #1 that just landed on the front of the hive.

This is a pile of dead bees just outside the lower entrance on the landing platform. The piled nature indicates that these were likely put here by workers cleaning up the interior of the hive. All social insects exhibit housekeeping behaviors that are part of their colony-level immunocompetence.

While collecting stores for the hive is some time off, when the temperature increases sufficiently the workers take full advantage to clean up and get ready for spring!