When evening rolls around and the sun starts to set, have you ever wondered what happens to bees? Do they continue buzzing around flowers under the moonlight? Or do bees strictly operate during daytime hours?
While most of us are familiar with bees busily collecting pollen during the day, their nighttime habits may be more of a mystery. So let’s shed some light on what bees get up to once the sun goes down.
In this article, we’ll cover:
- How bees spend their evenings and nights
- The reasons bees are not nocturnal creatures
- Exceptions where some bees can be active at night
- Whether bees ever leave the hive after dark
Understanding bees’ daytime versus nighttime behavior helps us appreciate the unique rhythms and adaptations of these incredibly industrious insects. Let’s look at the fascinating way bees live around the clock.
How Bees Spend Their Nights
Bees are diurnal creatures, meaning they are most active during daylight hours. But that doesn’t mean they simply power down and switch off at night. Their evenings and nights involve specific behaviors and activities.
Here’s a look at what goes on inside the hive after dark:
Clustering Together
Once daylight starts fading, foraging bees will return to the hive after getting their last pollen and nectar hauls. House bees that stayed in the hive all day also settle in for the night.
The bees cluster together into their winter configuration. Worker bees form a tightly packed ball surrounding the queen bee in the center. Drones may cluster at the outer edges.
Ball-shaped clustering provides shared warmth on cooler nights, since bees cannot shiver or regulate their own body heat. The insulation of thousands of bee bodies pressed together keeps the inner core at around 93°F, even if outside temps dip below freezing.
Guarding the Hive
Some worker bees position themselves at the hive entrance to stand guard overnight. Scout bees also patrol around the immediate vicinity of the hive to detect any potential predators.
Guard bees monitor the entryway for intruders like mice, skunks, or honey badgers that may try to invade. Defending the queen and the rest of the colony from threats is a 24/7 job, even in darkness.
Resting and Sleeping
While they don’t sleep in the same way humans do, most worker bees get the majority of their rest at night. They become mostly still and inactive as they conserve energy.
Some bees may take turns sleeping just 2-3 hours at a time before waking up to rotate active duties. Queen bees continuously alternate brief periods of sleep and wakefulness as they lay eggs around the clock.
Drones appear to sleep the most soundly, typically entering a deep, motionless state at night. They have the luxury to sleep deeply since they don’t handle tasks like warming, guarding, or rearing the brood.
Responding to Disturbances
Even within their sleepy state, bees remain semi-alert to potential disturbances during the nighttime hours. Jarring noises, movements, or vibrations can rouse them into an active response.
Getting the colony riled up at night is disadvantageous though, so bees may not react fully unless it’s a major threat. Their response also depends on the species and genetics of the hive.
Now that we know how bees spend their nights, let’s examine why they prefer to avoid nocturnal activity whenever possible.
Why Bees Don’t Come Out At Night
There are several key reasons why bees evolved as daytime-only creatures instead of being nocturnal or even crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk):
Bees Need Sunlight to Fly and See
Bees rely heavily on sight for navigation, locating food sources, and avoiding hazards. Their eyes contain light-sensitive receptors that detect color, patterns, and motion.
Bees see best in bright sunlight, which allows their visual senses to work optimally. Without adequate sunlight, they struggle to see obstacles in their path or identify the colors and patterns of flowers.
Lacking visual information, bees would end up flying blindly at night. They would likely crash into objects or struggle to find their way back to the hive.
Bees Use the Sun to Navigate
Speaking of navigation, bees also depend on sunlight for directional cues. Using the sun as a compass reference, they calculate the angle of flight needed to return to their hive after pollinating.
At night or on overcast days, bees have a harder time plotting their flight plan by the sun’s position. Darkness causes greater navigation challenges and risks of disorientation.
Lack of Food Sources at Night
Even if they could fly and navigate without sunlight, bees still wouldn’t locate much food after dark. The flowers they get pollen and nectar from close up and become inaccessible overnight.
With nothing to forage on, it would be fruitless for bees to expend energy leaving the hive when night falls. They stick close to home to conserve resources until daylight returns.
There are occasional exceptions where bees exhibit some limited night activity. Let’s look at those special cases next.
In Rare Cases, Some Bees Can Be Active at Night
While most bee species follow strict daylight schedules, a handful of specialized bees evolved to operate after dark:
Tropical Bees
In tropical regions with year-round warmth, some bees adapted the ability to fly and forage in moonlit rather than sunlit conditions.
These bees developed enlarged ocelli, the three simple eyes on top of their head. Their ocelli gather more light to see in dim conditions. Certain tropical flowers also evolved to be pollinated by these crepuscular bees.
Examples are varieties of orchid bees, stingless bees, and two species of honey bees native to Asia. Overall though, tropical night-flying bees represent a small minority of bee diversity.
Male Orchid Bees
Male orchid bees gather fragrances at night because the aromatic compounds they collect are more potent under cooler overnight temperatures. They forage for these scents to attract potential mates.
Females, however, do not show significant nighttime activity. They spend nights inside the nest, emerging occasionally for quick orientation flights.
Migrating Honey Bees
There is one scenario where even daylight-loving honey bees sometimes fly at night. When honey bee colonies abscond and migrate to a new home, they may commute longer distances after dark.
Migrating at night likely helps evade predators. But night flying during migration still poses orientation challenges for bees. And instances of absconding with full overnight travel are rare – a last resort for dysfunctional hives.
Apart from the exceptions above, the vast majority of bee species worldwide are only active during daylight hours when the sun is up. Their biology is not adapted for life after dark.
Now, let’s answer one last question on many readers’ minds:
Do Bees Ever Leave the Hive at Night?
In most cases, bees diligently remain inside the total darkness of the hive once the sun goes down and do not venture out again until sunrise.
But occasionally, a handful of workers may make brief exits to eliminate waste away from the nest. And drones desperate to mate may risk short orientation flights at dusk or dawn. These are exceptions though, not the norm.
Overall, bee colonies are homebodies at heart that cluster together in their hives overnight. Only tropical species, migrating swarms, or the rare drone would dare to depart the security of the hive deep into the night.
So if you spot what looks like a bee buzzing outside after dark, it’s likely a similar-looking insect. Bees stick to their daytime schedules and avoid the dangers of navigating darkness.
To Recap…
While the concept of nocturnal bees sounds intriguing, these busy pollinators are truly solar-powered creatures. Here’s a quick summary:
- Bees are diurnal and return to their hive at dusk, where they cluster together overnight.
- Lacking sunlight, bees cannot fly well, see clearly, or navigate easily in darkness.
- Food sources are also unavailable at night when flowers close up.
- Very few tropical, migrating, or male orchid bees exhibit some limited nocturnal activity.
- But the vast majority of bee species worldwide are only active during daylight hours.
- After dark, bees diligently remain protected inside the hive until sunrise.
So while bees may sometimes have a mystique of secretiveness, their nighttime habits aren’t very surprising. They follow their circadian rhythms and get their rest after completing arduous daytime pollination duties.
Understanding bees’ round-the-clock routines reveals the intricate ways they adapt to survive in every type of environment and region.
