Bad Attitude Bees

North Carolina winters are unpredictable, and honey bees feel every swing. One week it’s freezing, the next it feels like spring. Bees survive the chaos by forming a winter cluster—a tight, heat-saving huddle that protects the queen and keeps the hive alive. When it comes to winter, the cluster comes first, and understanding why makes all the difference.

The winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year—but for honey bees, it signals something deeper. As daylight stops shrinking, colonies shift from winter survival to early preparation for spring. Inside the hive, brood nests warm, queens begin laying again, and honey stores are put to work long before the first flowers bloom.

Helping Our Honey Bees (and Other Pollinators) Through the Hottest Months When the heat cranks up in North Carolina, and the wildflowers fade, our bees can use all the help they can get. In Part One , we talked about buckwheat as a quick-blooming, bee-friendly crop. This time, we’re adding another little-known summer hero to the lineup: borage . Meet Borage: The Summer Superstar Borage — also known as “starflower” — is a hardy annual that thrives in hot weather and blooms in about eight...