Cleaning flight

Bee colonies during a cleaning flight on a sunny day in January with snow on the ground

The flying of many bees in a colony in winter and early spring is called a cleaning flight .

description

During the cleaning flight, the bees dispose of their excrement that has accumulated in their excrement bladders during the weeks or months of winter rest . Since bees do not defecate in the beehive because of the risk of pathogens , the cleaning flight is the only way to empty them . The prerequisite for the flight is a sunny day with an air temperature of at least 10 ° C around noon. Only then are the bees even able to fly and return to the hive. At low temperatures, sudden rain or strong winds, the flight is associated with considerable danger for the bees due to hypothermia. The beekeeper can tell from the droppings whether his colonies are healthy or suffer from diarrhea-like diseases.

The cleaning flight can become a neighborhood dispute if laundry is hung up to dry outside near the bee colonies or cars are parked. Yellow or brownish stains are then found on it. In the case of insignificant impairment, this must be tolerated according to the neighboring law.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Judgment of the Dessau-Roßlau Regional Court of May 10, 2012, file number 1 S 22/12 = NJW-RR 2013, 87

Web links

• Profile cleaning flight of the apiary in Celle (PDF file, 70 kB)