LSM and Latvian Radio feature on LSIWC research to improve honeybee winter survival
Photo credit: Viktors Demidovs (Latvijas Radio correspondent)
In a recent Latvian Public Media (LSM) segment, journalist Viktors Demidovs reports on how researchers at the Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry (LVKĶI) are studying ways to protect honeybees during rapid temperature fluctuations. The team installs heat-reflective materials inside beehives to help bees maintain the required internal temperature. The three-year project began this summer with the aim of supporting beekeepers in maintaining healthy colonies without creating unnecessary costs. Interestingly, the hives are located right here in Riga — on the roof of the Institute.
A total of 36 beehives are placed on the Institute’s rooftop — half wooden, half made of foam plastic. This allows researchers to compare how bees behave in different environments. Each hive is equipped with a device and weighing system that records changes inside the hive, including internal temperature and humidity. The hives are divided into six groups, marked by the colour of their lids. It is also the largest urban apiary in Latvia — and, most likely, in Europe and even worldwide, noted LVKĶI senior researcher Dr.biol. Ulla Milbreta.
“We use various hive-screening materials to compare which provides the best ‘thermos effect’, reflecting the heat generated by the bees so they need to expend less energy to keep the winter cluster — with the queen at its centre — warm. When sharp temperature drops cause heat losses, the outer layers of the cluster can die off, the colony becomes smaller and may collapse entirely or enter spring too weak to develop,” Milbreta explained.
The screening principle works similarly to a foil survival blanket — preventing freezing in cold weather and overheating in warm conditions. Another growing threat to bees is increasingly mild winters and autumns. Warm periods attract wasps, which attack bee colonies when other insects have already gone into winter dormancy.
“What was once mentioned as a possible influencing factor has now become critically important. We’ve experienced that colonies in hives without screening are unable to defend themselves from wasps in autumn. And if the winter is warm, bees may begin their first spring flights too early. If temperatures then suddenly drop again, the colony becomes disoriented, cannot regroup into the cluster, cannot maintain warmth, and dies,” Milbreta noted.
Researchers will monitor the bees until May 2028. The total project budget is nearly €95,000. Observing the colonies through three winters will provide more reliable data, Milbreta added, promising recommendations for beekeepers afterwards. During the project, the Institute also plans to develop a new hive material — lighter than wood but more durable than foam.
Each winter, 14% of bee colonies die in Latvia, amounting to more than 15,000 colonies, explained the Latvian Beekeepers’ Association, which monitors bees in cooperation with the international project COLOSS.
The data show that temperature fluctuations are not the main cause of colony losses. “The most important factors behind colony mortality are a small parasite called the varroa mite, which causes varroosis; second, feed quality; and third, genetics. These are the three key aspects for successful overwintering. At present, hive construction itself is generally sufficiently robust and well developed,” said the association’s chairman Valters Brusbārdis.
The association welcomes the Institute’s plans for developing new hive materials.
Source: Latvian Public Media (LSM)
Project description: Development of a method for beehive shielding using thermoreflective surfaces to reduce bee losses under rapid climate change
