Honey bees have been around for over 100 million years, and they are solely responsible for keeping our ecosystem up and running.
The Egyptians were the first prolific beekeepers, worshipping bees and using honey for medicinal purposes, and Pharaohs even put honey stores in their tombs.
Did you know…
- Pollen is a source of sugar, protein, minerals, fatty acids, and vitamins for bees.
- Nectar is a source of carbohydrates for bees.
- Just like us, they need all the same nutrients to survive and thrive.
Types of Honey Bees
- Queen – there’s only one in each colony. She will live for 2 to 3 years and she only takes one mating flight. She will mate with 8-10 drones on that flight and will store up all the sperm she will need for her entire life cycle. In her lifetime, she will lay about 800,000 eggs.
- Male Drones – The number of drones at any given time is dependent on the season. Their only role is to mate with a queen that is not part of their colony.
- Female Workers (foragers) – 20-40k in a hive; they will live approximately 45 days. Those reared later in the season will live until the following spring.
These worker honey bees have different jobs according to their age:
- 1-2 days old – Clean cells starting with the one they were born in. They also keep the brood (eggs, larvae, and pupae) warm.
- 3-5 days old – Feed older larvae. These are considered “Nurse” bees.
- 6-11 days old – Have the responsibility to feed the youngest larvae. These are also considered “Nurse” bees.
- 12-17 days old – Wax production, carrying food, building combs, housekeeping, and acting as undertakers.
- 18-21 days old – Protecting the hive entrance and guard duty.
- 21 days to the end of their lives (40-45 days) – Collect food sources (e.g. pollen, nectar, water, etc.). If any of these bees part of the “Queens Court” or royal court, their only job is to attend to the Queen; feeding and grooming her.
The Beekeeper’s Alphabet
If you’ve ever heard a beekeeper talk, you’ve undoubtedly heard a few words that don’t make sense. Let’s explain a few for you.
- A is for Apiary – The place where you keep your bees. We refer to it as the bee yard.
- B is for Brood – This is the developing young in a hive. A worker bee develops from an egg into adulthood in just 21 days. Drones take a bit longer at 24 days, and a queen takes only 16 days.
- C is for Cell – The cell is a hexagon structure made of wax and is used for rearing bees, storing food and yummy honey.
- D is for Drone – Drones are the male bees in the hive. They are famous for being the “lazy one” in the hive. They hang out at the entrance, sunning themselves and waiting for food handouts. Their only job is to mate with a virgin queen (not their own) and provide hive genetic diversity. If they are lucky enough to catch a queen’s eye, the drones are killed after mating. The onset of fall signals the “massacre of the drones”, at which time the remaining drones are kicked out of the hive by the worker bees because they eat up the hives’ stored winter food resources.
- E is for Eggs – Every beekeeper loves inspecting frames and seeing tiny newly laid eggs in the cells. A prolific queen can lay up to 2000 eggs a day. The eggs look like tiny grains of rice and will be standing up for 3 days. When an egg lays down on its side, is when the larva hatches.
- F is for Frames & Foragers – Frames are what make up the body of a hive. This is where the bees will draw out their comb (the wax cells they use). The foragers (female worker bees) will bring pollen and nectar back to the hive to feed the brood, store up for winter, and to make yummy honey.
- G is for Guard bees – These are the sentries of the hive. They patrol the entrance, always ready to attack unwanted visitors. Wasps & bumblebees love to try and steal the resources of the honey bee, but they’ll have to get past the guards first!
- H is for Honey – Honey is the world’s, first sweetener. Nothing is better than honey straight from the hive! It is golden goodness!
- L is for Larva – This is the immature grub-like stage of a honey bee.
- N is for Nurse bees – The young bees of a hive are given the responsibility of providing food for the developing larvae and for feeding the queen (because she is an egg-laying machine). Nurse bees are typically 3-14 days old after hatching from capped cells.
- P is for Propolis – Bees are fastidious housekeepers. They like things to be tidy and don’t like drafts (as drafts mess with the temperature of the hive). Propolis is a sticky resin collected from poplar tree buds and is then mixed with beeswax. The bees will then use this mixture to seal up everything! Propolis has antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral properties, and helps to improve honey bee health.
- R is for Round – The Round Dance is similar to the Waggle Dance in that it is used by the bees to communicate to the other foragers that the food and/or water source is close by, within 165 feet from the hive.
The bee runs around in small circles, reversing its direction from the original path. During or after the dance, the bee will often share their foraged nectar with the other foragers to let them sample how good it is. Here is a video that explains these dances a little better. - U is for Undertaker – From time to time, we will witness a little hard-working bee struggling to carry or drag a dead nestmate out and away from the hive. If a dead bee is left in the hive, it could possibly sicken others in the crowded metropolis that is the hive.
- W is for Waggle – The Waggle Dance is one of the most amazing things you will see in a hive, or anywhere, for that matter. Returning foragers do a dance when they’ve returned to the hive to alert the others where the choice resources can be found. The dance tells the location and distance of the food source. The angle of the waggle run portion of the dance indicates the direction relative to the current position of the sun. The duration of the waggle run indicates the distance.
