The Amazing Honey Bee

Photo by D.J. Shlien

We hear about various problems with bees:

bee mites

Africanized bees

colony collapse disorder. Should we care? After all bees are just a small insect, one of very many.

What is the most important

contribution to the world by honey

bees?

Pollinator Protection Act of 2007

As a result of the CCD (colony collapse disorder) problem, this bill was submitted to congress on June 26 to fund bee research (>7 M$/yr for several years). As part of the justification, the bill states that:

• “pollination by honey and native bees adds more than $18,000,000,000 annually to the value of United States crops;• “1/3 of the food supply of the United States depends on bee pollination, which makes the management and protection of pollinators an issue of paramount importance to the security of the United States food supply system;”

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s110-1694

“No other pollinating insect can be as easily managed and manipulated as the honey bee.” (Caron)

The Hive – the feral nest

The Hive - skeps

The Langstroth Hive

Photo by Kristin Rohrbeck

Brood frame with capped honey

Photo by Deborah Hautau

Bees capping honey cells

Photo by Deborah Hautau

Pollen cells

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

* segmented body (2 or 3 regions)

* paired segmented appendages

* exoskeleton

* bilaterally symmetrical with tubular alimentary canal

* open circulatory system (dorsal blood vessel and open body cavity)

* Invertebrates

Class: Insecta (over 1,000 species can be found around your home)

* Head, thorax, abdomen

* one pair of antennae

* 3 pairs of legs

* 1 or 2 pairs of wings

Order: Hymenoptera* clear membrane like wings* includes social insects* constricted abdomen* do not damage plants by direct

feeding

Superfamily: Apoidea* branched body hairs* special body hairs for pollen

transport* plant pollen and nectar sole

source of foodFamily: Apidae

* Includes honey bee and bumble bee

* most are eusocial *cooperative brood care* reproductive castes* generation overlap

Genus: Apis* 6 species (includes Apis mellifera)

Bee Types within Colony

Queen Drone Worker

The Queen

• She is longer than the worker bee.

• The only job of mated queen is to lay eggs – 800 (typical) to 2000 per day.

• She is groomed and fed by the worker bees.

• There is only one queen in a colony.

• It is difficult to find the queen in the colony.

Photo by Deborah Hautau

• Mating takes place 200 to 300 ft. in the air.

• After mating, the drone loses his reproduction organ (barbed) in the queen and he dies.

• Only about 1% of the drones get to mate.

• Over several mating flights the queen will have mated with a dozen or more drones.

• She stores the sperm in a sac in her abdomen and does not mate again.

• She starts laying eggs within 3 days.

• As she lays an egg, a few spermatozoa pass out of the storage and into the vagina where one of them fertilizes the egg.

• Unfertilized eggs become drones.

Bee Types within Colony

Queen Drone Worker

The Drone

• He is also larger than the worker and is more barrel shaped than the queen.

• He is hatched from unfertilized eggs.• He doesn’t forage for food, he doesn’t help with

the building of comb, nor can he defend the hive having no stinger.

• He is fed and cared for by the workers. • When cold weather approaches and food may be

scarce, the worker bees force the drones out of the hive.

Photo from http://www.agpix.com/catalog/AGPix_ScCa13/large/AGPix_ScCa13_0086_Lg.jpg

The Drone

The Worker• is the smallest of the three types. (average weight 80 mg)• there are about 50,000 bees in a hive.• her specific jobs changes with her age:

- clean cells- undertaking- nursing- attending the queen- accepting nectar from foragers, deposit it in cells, add enzyme to nectar, evaporate water from nectar, also accept and pack pollen- fanning for temperature/humidity control- comb and cap building- guard duty- foraging after taking orientation flights

Find the queen

Photo by Deborah Hautau

Find the queen

Photo by Deborah Hautau

Find the queen

Photo by Thomas Jenkins

Anatomy

Drawing modified from R. E. SnodgrassDrawing from R.E. Snodgrass

Head

Major glands of the worker bee

Pollen basket

• Photo by D.J. Shlien

Bees with full pollen baskets entering hive.

Digestive and excretory organs

From H.A. Dade

Eggs

Eggs as seen in cross-section of cells.

larvae

Photo by Deborah Hautau

Eggs and larvae

Bee brood summary

Communication

DanceCommunicates the location and profitability of a food source to other foragers of the hive.

Pheromones* Various pheromones are secreted by the queen and by the workers from their glands.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------* “Any chemical substance released by an animal that serves to influence the physiology or behavior of other members of the same species.” (Random House Webster’s College Dictionary, Random House, NY, 1991)

Some of the many functions of the pheromones:

Queen bee pheromones1. attracts workers to her2. informs the colony that a queen is present3. serves as sexual attractant4. stimulates small population hive to greater activity

Worker bee pheromones1. are used to identifying bees of a colony2. communicates an alarm signal3. attract bees to the hive

In the future, “it may be possible to artificially introduce specific (chemical) messages into hives.” (Caron)

Seasonal management

• Inspect hives regularly:- summer: once or twice per month.- winter: not at all unless there is a warm day.- spring and fall: thorough inspection every two weeks or so, as needed.

• Inspect for: performance of queen, disease symptoms, poorly drawn combs, damaged hive.

• In the fall: - harvest honey.- check hive for adequate stores of honey and pollen for the bees.

Photo by Jason Keeler

Uncapping knife

Photo by Jason Keeler

Honey Extractor

Main Bee Products

• Pollination service• Honey• Wax• Pollen• Royal jelly• Bee brood• Propolis• Bee venom• Mead (honey wine)

Conclusions

• Bee keeping is fun.• It is not time-consuming.• Beekeepers are friendly and very helpful. • It is a relatively inexpensive hobby and can be financially profitable.• There is a lot to learn. New situations arise all the time.• Most bee keepers are older - there is a need for new, young bee keepers.• The world needs more bee keepers - we may be facing an new crisis with CCD. If the problem is not solved (I believe it will be solved.) the cost of fruit, vegetables and meat can rise tremendously.

For

more about beekeeping

and

volunteering to help with hive work:

contact me

shlien@svsu.eduor

extension 4239.

S. O. B.

S. O. B.Save Our Bees

Main ReferencesBlackiston, Howland (2002) Beekeeping for Dummies, Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, IN.

Caron, Dewey M. (2006) Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping, Wicwas Press, Chesire, CT.

Crane, Eva (1990) Bees and Beekeeping, Science, Practice and World Resources, Cornell University Press.

Sammataro, Diana and Avitabile, Alphonse (1998) The Beekeeper’s Handbook, Comstock Publ. Assoc.

NOTE: Much of this presentation (including unattributed photos) is based on material in Caron (2006).

A sample page (one of 53) of the bibliography from Crane (1990).