The bees that have become known across Germany have clearly survived the harsh winter with minimal losses. German beekeeper Daniel Holstein told the “Rheinische Post” on Saturday, “Most of them had a good winter”. He noted that eight colonies currently live on the roof of the Jakob‑Kaiser House above the Bundestag offices.
“We’re always going to have some losses, but the bees huddled together during the cold months” Holstein said. “All of the queens are still present”.
The beekeeper also said it’s too early to predict how much honey will be produced this year, adding that it will depend entirely on the weather. “By early July we’ll know how the harvest turned out”. In the previous season, each colony produced about 40 kg of honey. The idea of the Bundestag bees began in 2015, when Holstein was a staffer for then‑Green member of Parliament Bärbel Höhn.