Download Honey Bees - WordPress.com

Honeybees
Honeybees
Contd….
Honeybee is a social insect that can
survive only as a member of a community
or colony
 The colony inhabits in an enclosed cavity,
its nest
 Colonies are kept in artificial containers,
usually wooden boxes known as hives.

Members of a Bee colony
Bee Colony
In each honeybee hive there are
thousands of worker- bees, hundreds of
male drones, but only a single female
queen, who is mother to them all.
 The workers provide nursing support for
the larvae as well as hive maintanance

A field bee collects nectar from a
flower
How honey is made?
Honeybee collects nectar from flowers and
bring it back to the hive.
 In the hive they convert it in to honey.
 The honey is stored in the cells of the
honey comb and used as food.

HONEY IS BEING MADE IN THE
BEEHIVE
Bee Colony
Every beehive has One Queen bee that lays eggs
 Thousands of worker- bees
 Hundreds of male drones

The queen







Each hive has a single Queen bee
The queen bee is the mother of all workers
drones and future queens
The Queen bee’s body is larger than all other
bees
Queen bee lays thousands of eggs
Eggs hatch to form larvae
The eggs which are laid one per cell hatch in
three days and become larvae
The larvae are fed with royal jelly for at least
two days and then pollen and nectar or honey
Worker Bees






Worker- bees are the most numerous members
of the colony
Workers build and maintain the nest
They build the nest from the wax secreted from
the glands in their abdomen
The hexagonal cells constructed by the workers
form the comb
Workers leave the hive to gather nectar pollen
and water
They convert nectar to honey, clean the comb
and feed the larvae, drones and the queen
Activities of worker bees
The worker- bees initially do the
maintenance of the nest and after a
certain period they become field bees
 Field bees leave the hive and collect
flower nectar
 On entering the hive with a fully honey
sac the field bee puts the contents into
the mouth of a young worker bee

Contd….
The worker (nurse) bee deposits the
nectar in a cell and converts the nectar
into honey
 When the honey is fully formed the cell is
sealed with an airtight wax capping
 Bees store honey for winters
 Pollen is carried to the nest on the hind
legs of the field bees and placed directly in
the cells

The drones
Drones are the male honeybees
 They are stingless, defenseless and unable
to feed themselves
 They are fed by the worker bees
 They are few in number compared to the
worker- bees

Communication – An amazing factor
A field bee finds a new source of food( field in
bloom)
 She fills her honey sac with nectar returns to
nest and performs a vigorous but highly
standardized dance
 If the new source of food is within about 90m of
the nest the bee performs a circular dance
 The other bees in the nest follow the dancer,
imitating her movements

Contd…
During the dance the other workers scent the
fragrance of the flowers from which the dancer
collected the nectar
 This way the other workers learn that the nectar
is not far away and how it smells like and they
leave the nest for nectar collection
 If the source is farther away the field bee
performs a different dance with the wagging
movements of her abdomen
