So far, it has been a Wyoming winter. I've had to dig out twice. I've been caught on a major highway during a total white-out once. I've learned that, in direct opposition to weather reports in New England, predicted snowfall of 1 - 3 inches really means 8 - 12 inches with drifts up to 2 feet.

Before the cold snap, I wrapped insulating bubble foil around my hive of Italian honeybees. They don't winter as well as other strains. So, any small advantage could help the hive survive.

Yesterday, temperatures hit the high 40's. The bees took advantage of the weather to do housekeeping. Housekeeping for a hive of bees means removing their dead and taking flight to defecate. Honeybees will not defecate in their hive. Instead, they will wait for tolerable weather.

The average lifespan of a worker bee is six weeks. The bodies of a hundred or so dead bees lay on the ground under the hive entrance. I watched as the workers removed more. The number was reasonable - it looks like they are wintering well - so far.

I looked at the snow which was under the bees' normal flight path and saw one dead worker bee motionless on the surface. As I walked through the snow toward it, I noticed many holes sunk in the snow. I had seen snow patterns like this before in New England. They were formed by small clumps of snow falling from trees and sinking into the snow surface as they fell. However, Cheyenne has few trees.

I looked down into one of the holes and saw a dead honeybee. The other holes contained the same. The bees had left for their defecation flight, were too weak to make it back to the hive, and died on the snow under the main flight path. The sun had warmed their bodies and the combined heat and weight sunk each bee below the snow's surface.

I took a card from my wallet and scooped up the honeybee which I first saw on the surface of the snow. I brought it to my office. As this is my first year beekeeping, I had the intention of studying this particular bee's anatomy. Until, of course, its abdomen began slowly moving - that bellows motion which most assume is the honeybee showing aggression, but is, in fact, just the honeybee breathing.

So, unexpectedly, I had a live, albeit groggy, honeybee in my office.

I transferred it to a covered glass jar. I then sprayed a little sugar-water inside the jar. The honeybee ate and quickly recovered some energy, although it was still not flying.

After a while, I brought it back to the hive. I opened the jar. But, try as we both might, the bee could not make it back inside the hive. The cold had sent it back into a stupor. So, I placed the honeybee back in the glass jar and took it back inside.

The honeybee died later that night. But I was not overly sad. Winter is a season for honeybees as well.