Honeybees are extremely sensitive to weather changes. They like quite, warm and sunny weather. If it is the peak of Qatari summer and winter, especially in windy conditions and if it is an open-air hive, honeybees find it difficult and abandon their home.

Featured here are the drastic changes to a natural beehive found on a Sidra tree in a Doha backyard within a week, during which it went from bustling to desertion and inactivity. Doha recorded cold and windy conditions, with minimum temperature in the 15C to 20C range, during this period.

The beehive bustling with life on January 11


A close-up of the active beehive on January 11


Overnight, the situation changed, with bees starting to desert the hive, as seen on January 12


By January 16, the hive was almost bare



With each passing hour, more bees left, as seen in another picture taken on January 16


The beehive on January 16 afternoon


Another picture from January 16


On January 20, a lone bee was found sniffing around the old beehive

Though honeybees can survive between -2C to 45C, in this case it seems that the wind chill was too much for them. Bees are cold-blooded and there is a limit to the amount of heat they can generate by metabolising honey and exercising their wing muscles. (PICTURES: Gulf Times news editor Bonnie James)

Last updated: January 21 2022 05:47 PM