Cindy Keitzy, age 10, of Moosehorn, Manitoba, Canada, for her question:

Where do bees spend the winter?

Right now the honey bees are safely tucked away in their hive. The walls are waterproof and the cracks are sealed with wax. There is honey stored away in their honeycomb pantries. Each bee gets a fair ration of this sweet food through the winter. There are not as many bees now as there were during the summer. There are no drone bees and many of the weary old workers have died.

But the queen bee is still there in the winter hive. She lays no eggs, as she did every day during the summer. And usually she does not get a chance to feed on her favorite royal jelly during the winter. Instead, she shares the rations of ordinary honey, along with the fuzzy little worker bees. Sometimes the bees stay inside all winter. But once in a while, on a sunny winter day, one or two workers may take short trips outdoors just to check on the scenery.