Reply #10: Honey bees keep their hive interior immaculate.

[sarge43]

They don't even defecate in the hive; they poop outside. It's not unusual to see the yellow stains on the outside of the hives.

hat's a problem up here in cold country. If the temp is below mid 40F, the bees will not leave the queen; they cluster around her to keep her warm. So mid winter they need some warm days to do the cleansing flight or else they eventually have to let go in the hive and the toxins from the waste kills them. We lost both our hives last winter because they couldn't/wouldn't leave Big Momma, just never got warm enough.

If you want to see a grown man or woman cry, it's a bee keeper who pops the hive early spring and sees the interior covered with yellow stain. There's several thousand dead bees at the bottom of the hive.