This is Ruth's website about ees
- General
Facts
- The
Colony
- The
Queen
- The
Drones
- The
Workers
-
Honey Bee Facts
- Why do bees make honey?
- We know that bees have been producing honey as they do today
for at least 150 million years. Bees produce honey as food stores
for the hive during the long months of winter when flowers aren't
blooming and therefore little or no nectar is available to them.
European honey bees, genus Apis Mellifera, produce such an
abundance of honey, far more than the hive can eat, that humans can
harvest the excess. For this reason, European honey bees can be
found in beekeeper's hives around the world!
-
The Colony
- Honey bees are social insects, with a marked division of labor
between the various types of bees in the colony. A colony of honey
bees includes a queen, drones and workers.
-
The Queen
- The queen is the only sexually developed female in the hive.
She is the largest bee in the colony.
- A two-day-old larva is selected by the workers to be reared as
the queen.
- She will emerge from her cell 11 days later to mate in flight
with approximately 18 drone (male) bees.
- During this mating, she receives several million sperm cells,
which last her entire life span of nearly two years.
- The queen starts to lay eggs about 10 days after mating. A
productive queen can lay 3,000 eggs in a single day.
-
The Drones
- Drones are stout male bees that have no stingers. Drones do not
collect food or pollen from flowers. Their sole purpose is to mate
with the queen. If the colony is short on food, drones are often
kicked out of the hive.
-
The Workers
- Workers, the smallest bees in the colony, are sexually
undeveloped females. A colony can have 50,000 to 60,000
workers.
- The life span of a worker bee varies according to the time of
year. Her life expectancy is approximately 28 to 35 days. Workers
that are reared in September and October, however, can live through
the winter.
- Workers feed the queen and larvae, guard the hive entrance and
help to keep the hive cool by fanning their wings. Worker bees also
collect nectar to make honey. In addition, honey bees produce wax
comb. The comb is composed of hexagonal cells which have walls that
are only 2/1000 inch thick, but support 25 times their own
weight.
- Honey bees' wings stroke 11,400 times per minute, thus making
their distinctive buzz.
Links:
Visit the honey
website (opens a new window)
Visit the honey website
Contact Ruth at: [email protected]
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