Occupants of the Hive
In each hive there are three types of honeybees. The worker, the queen, and the drone bees. Each bee has their own distinct duties.
The Queen: In each hive their is a singular bee that "rules". This bee is called the queen bee. The queen bee is the longest bee and is featured in the top most image with a pink dot. The function of the queen is to lay the eggs of the entire hive. The eggs in which she lays that are fertilized become worker brood (bee babies), and the eggs in which she lays that are not fertilized become drone brood. This is her main task for the hive, and is virtually all she does. She even spends so much time laying eggs that she has the worker bee clean her.The queen gains her distinct size and shape from the circumstances of her upbringing. Queens are feed royal jelly throughout their upbringing and are kept in separate vertical cells called queen cells. Each queen bee emits pheromones that are unique to the individual hive, these pheromones are how worker bees can distinguish outsiders. In each hive their can only be one queen, and if there are more than one a battle to the death commences. A queen unlike her worker has a far less barbed stinger that does not cause death when used.
The worker: Worker bees make up the majority of each hive. All worker bees are female, and their priorities are to maintain and protect the hive. The worker, as its' name would suggest, does the most work for the hive. As soon as they crawl from their hexagonal "cribs" their work begins, from cleaning the hive, to forming the wax pattern, protecting the hive from intruders, gathering pollen, capping honey, to even cleaning, the worker bees job is never done. Worker bees do not mate and cannot produce fertile eggs, but occasionally lay infertile eggs, which give rise to drones.
The Drone: Drone bees are the thicker male bees in any hive. They virtually have one singular purpose which is to find a queen on her mating flight in order to fertilizer her eggs. Drones are often kicked out of the hive in the winter season as they put pressure on the hive with little contribution. Drone bees are also the only honeybees without stingers.
The Queen: In each hive their is a singular bee that "rules". This bee is called the queen bee. The queen bee is the longest bee and is featured in the top most image with a pink dot. The function of the queen is to lay the eggs of the entire hive. The eggs in which she lays that are fertilized become worker brood (bee babies), and the eggs in which she lays that are not fertilized become drone brood. This is her main task for the hive, and is virtually all she does. She even spends so much time laying eggs that she has the worker bee clean her.The queen gains her distinct size and shape from the circumstances of her upbringing. Queens are feed royal jelly throughout their upbringing and are kept in separate vertical cells called queen cells. Each queen bee emits pheromones that are unique to the individual hive, these pheromones are how worker bees can distinguish outsiders. In each hive their can only be one queen, and if there are more than one a battle to the death commences. A queen unlike her worker has a far less barbed stinger that does not cause death when used.
The worker: Worker bees make up the majority of each hive. All worker bees are female, and their priorities are to maintain and protect the hive. The worker, as its' name would suggest, does the most work for the hive. As soon as they crawl from their hexagonal "cribs" their work begins, from cleaning the hive, to forming the wax pattern, protecting the hive from intruders, gathering pollen, capping honey, to even cleaning, the worker bees job is never done. Worker bees do not mate and cannot produce fertile eggs, but occasionally lay infertile eggs, which give rise to drones.
The Drone: Drone bees are the thicker male bees in any hive. They virtually have one singular purpose which is to find a queen on her mating flight in order to fertilizer her eggs. Drones are often kicked out of the hive in the winter season as they put pressure on the hive with little contribution. Drone bees are also the only honeybees without stingers.
Lifespans:
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From Egg to Adult
In a thriving colony, the queen is able to lay about 1,500 eggs each day, producing over 200,000 worker bees a year. The queen lays eggs for her colony for her whole life, normally two to five years. She fertilizes the eggs using the sperm she collected from brief mating flights she mare with a single, or several drones.
After mating, the queens ovaries expand and within three to four days, she begins laying eggs. The eggs take another three to four days to hatch. After hatching, the worker bees visit the larva and feed them for five days until they are finished growing (drones, take an extra sixth day).
One the ninth day, the worker bees seal off the cell with a wax cap in which the larva transforms into a pupa. Sixteen days after the eggs is laid by the queen bee, a new queen be will hatch. Worker bees take 21 and drones, 24. |
Both the workers and queen bees are from the same type of fertilized eggs but yet both worker and queen bees are born. The determination of the bee, to either become a queen or a worker, is determines by the food that the larvae is fed. During the first 3-4 days both the worker and the queen bee larvae is fed the same thing- a protein rich substance from the hypopharyngeal and mandibular glads inside the throat derived from large amounts of pollen. Later, the food given the work larvae becomes diluted with honey and pollen while the queen larvae continues to fed on the secretion. (Jones, Sweeny-Lynch, 99)
Life of Workers
In the colony of 50,000 bees there is a division of labor between the workers which helps ensure the future of the new offspring and construct, protect, and maintain the nest. Some of the jobs of the worker bees include:
The primary task is foraging for nectar, the bees' and brood's source of carbohydrates, containing glucose, fructose, and sucrose. For protein, the bees harvest pollen. Worker bees also visit ponds, streams, ditches, dew, and mud to gather water which is used to dilute the honey when it is fed to the larvae. Tree sap is also gathered and used tp see up gaps in the hive, improve the structure, and keep predators and pests out.
Communication
The bees are able to communication the presence, direction, distance, and nutrient strength of nectar and pollen sources while foraging. In the late 1880's Australian Zoologist Karl von Frish artificially manipulate forage sources and describe the two danced of the bees: the waggle and the round dance.
If a forage site is relatively close to the hive the bee will signal the others by doing the round dance. Moving in a clockwise, then counter-clockwise circle, repeating the dance to give direction to the other worker bees.
The most remarkable dance of the bee is the waggle dance. This dance is performed when a new forage source is found telling them what direction to fly and what to expect when they get there. (Jones, Sweeny-Lynch, 112) |
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