Ep 146: Radio Reader: The Bees Winter Nest

Ep 146: Radio Reader: The Bees Winter Nest

From Beekeeping at FiveApple by Leigh Wilkerson

December 11, 2025 · 21 min · Episode 147

About this episode

This episode explores the architecture of the winter bee nest and the behaviors of bees during winter.

What makes a perfect winter home for 60,000 bees? This episode explores Dr. James Tew's look at the architecture of the winter bee nest. You'll discover what scout bees look for when house hunting, what propolis really does, and why the entire colony functions as a single super-organism. A Radio-reader edition of The Honey Bee's Winter Nest" by Dr. James E. Tew, Bee Culture magazine, October 2023. Read with permission of Bee Culture Magazine. Get a subscription to have access to years of archives as well as a new magazine monthly. Subscribe at: https://beeculture.com/ kind regards, Leigh -- You are warmly invited to become a Friend of Five Apple on Patreon to join the folks who make the podcasts possible, who keep the archives available and who keep it all advertising-free. https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple In addition to huge gratitude, you get: Detailed show notes with links, tips, comments Access to Patreon blog posts including tips and videos Occasional bonus podcasts and early access episodes Commenting on posts (and DMs) allows me to answer questions Input on the podcast topics Shout-outs on the show because I appreciate you! If you can support the show with $3 a month or…

People in this episode

Host: Leigh Wilkerson

Topics covered

  • beekeeping
  • winter bee nest
  • bee architecture
  • colony behavior
  • propolis
  • super-organism

Keywords

  • bees
  • winter nest
  • architecture
  • scout bees
  • propolis
  • super-organism
  • bee culture

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Bee Culture magazine

More episodes of Beekeeping at FiveApple

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Beekeeping at FiveApple podcast page.