subject: The Humble Honey Bee [print this page] Although bees are often overlooked, they are very important to us. The Honeybee is very easily recognised with its bright markings and is probably one of the most easily identified insects on the planet. The bee plays a very important role in both the human and natural world and is relied upon for pollination. It is a member of the insect order Hymenoptera, and is a very organised insect. Ever since it was discovered that bees made honey, which has always been held in high esteem through the ages, we have had a fascination for this hard working creature.
The bright colour pattern of the honeybees is a warning to any potential predators that they have a formidable weapon with which to defend themselves. Their stinger, which is located at the end of their abdomen, is a modified egg-laying tube (ovipositor) which is combined with a venom gland (aculeus). It is a little known fact that only the female of the species stings, this is because as mentioned above, the stinger is a modified structure only found in females. Fortunately bees will only sting if they or the hive is under treat; they do not sting for no reason. They will then swam out and attack with their stinger to drive off the enemy.
Honeybees are social insects that live together in sophisticated nests called colonies or hives which may house up to 20,000 individuals in the wild or over 80,000 in domestic hives. Communication between themselves is made by using dances; the tiny hairs on the bee's head pick up the sounds from the movement. They go about their lives in a very orderly way and work together within a structured social order. Within each hive there will be three groups which specialize in only one activity. The different castes are queens, drones and workers.
- Queen. This bee is a fully fertile female. Per colony there is usually only one queen bee, and her main purpose in life is to produce eggs. Over 1,500 eggs can be laid per day and her life expectancy is from two to eight years. The Queen can affect and regulate the behaviour of the other bees within the colony by producing chemicals called "pheromones”. The queen is larger (up to 20mm), and her abdomen is longer than the other bees. She is equipped with chewing mouthparts and her stinger being curved without barbs on it can be used many times.
- Drones. These are male bees and do not have a stinger. Their life expectancy is short; only about eight weeks. Within a hive there will only be a few hundred drones, at most, five hundred. They have only one purpose and that is to mate with a new queen. Drones can be distinguished from other bees, due to larger eyes which help them to spot the queens when they are on their nuptial flight. They are considered to be non-essential and at the end of the season they will be driven out of the hive to die.
- Workers. A colony may have 2,000 to 60,000. These bees do everything that is required to maintain and operate the hive. They are sterile females that have a straight, barbed stinger that due to the barb, can only be used once as it is pulled out of the abdomen after use, killing the bee. There are house bees which carry out work in the hive, such as comb construction, brood rearing, tending the queen and drones, cleaning, temperature regulation and defence of the hive. The other workers are called field bees, and as the name suggests they forage outside the hive for nectar, pollen, water and certain sticky plant resins used in hive construction. If born early in the season they will only live for about six weeks, however if born later (fall) they will live until the following spring.
