pollinators
why we need bees
seed
store
salad
3 types of bees
in a Honeybee Colony
Queen Bee
- 1 in each colony
- Lifespan up to 5 years
- Can lay 1000 eggs a day
- Responsible for laying the eggs of all the other bees in the colony
- Controls behaviors and hive mentality with pheromones
Worker Bee
- All female
- Make up most of the population of the colony
- Responsible for: cleaning the hive, protecting the hive, caring for baby bees and larva, foraging, honey production, etc.
- Dies after stinging
Drone Bee
- All male
- Genetic replica of queen resulting from an unfertilized egg
- Big compared to workers, larger eyes that meet on top of head
- Only responsibility is mating, a process that results in their death
honey production
- Extremely labor intensive and time-consuming process for bees
- 1 worker bee makes only 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.
- It is important to take honey from managed hives to keep the hive from leaving, due to lack of space for brood (baby bees) and other resources.
- Honey is created from worker bees foraging nectar. Worker bees bring nectar back for another worker to distribute in the comb inside of the hive. Enzymes are added to create a reaction. Worker bees fan their wings over nectar until it dries to a 17% moisture content and is capped with wax when the process is complete.
