A new hive
or colony of bees will choose
a nest cavity slightly over one cubic foot in volume.
Most bees prefer and enclosed shelter, but in some climates may nest in
the open.
Members of a hive
are divided into castes
which are different bees in the hive who perform different roles.
The largest bee in the hive is the queen. She has a large abdomen which
extends past her wing-tips.
The remaining activities in the hive are performed by the female worker bees and are
separated into hive jobs for the younger bees and nectar and pollen collection which is
done by older "field" bees. Bees are very active, and spend much of the day working,
but a single bee may perform many tasks in a single day.
In general, once a bee emerges from her cell she begins to clean her cell and
others surrounding hers. Newly hatched bees can neither sting nor fly, and their tasks
are performed as they walk over the comb. After a few days, the young bee will begin
to
feed some of
the older larvae pollen or honey stored in the hive. It is not until glands in the bees
mouth region (mandibular glands) develop completely that she can produce royal
jelly to be fed to the younger larvae. These young bees or nurse bees spend their time
checking on and feeding the developing larvae. As workers reach 10 days of age, the
wax glands on their abdomen mature enough that they can secrete tiny plates of wax
used in comb building and repair. It may take hundreds of bees to construct a single
cell, using their mandibles to chew, form and attach the pieces of wax to the comb.
As the bees grow older, they work in the hive accepting pollen from field bees and
packing it into cells, or fanning cells of stored honey to evaporate excess water. The
You can read more about the dance of the bee on a
Earth and Sky web feature from last year.
The importance
of a nest site is demonstrated by the scouting behavior of a swarm looking
for a new place to settle. The swarm will settle on trees or limbs for
a short period of time ( 24 to 48 hours) while scout bees fly over the area
investigating potential sites inside and out.
The new hive cavity must be large enough
to provision honey for the cold times of the year, yet small enough that
it can be cooled effectively during hot weather. South facing entrances are
preferred since that direction is sheltered from harsh winds and rain, and
a dry nest cavity is required. Once a new location is found, the swarm
moves in and the cycle of a new hive is begun.
The Queen has the major task
of laying eggs since all of the bees in a colony are her
offspring. A queen may lay as many as 200,000
eggs each year so her task is an important one. The queen also produces
pheromones, which are chemical scents that stimulate behaviors of the
colony as a whole. Queen substance is a pheromone secreted by the queen that
works to calm the hive. It is the chemical message that keeps a colony functioning
as a unit. If the queen is removed, the worker bees increase
their activity, and become defensive and agitated within 30 minutes.
If the queen is killed or dies, the workers quickly expand the walls of certain cells
to form queen cups in which to raise an "emergency" queen. The larvae in the
chosen cells must be less than three days old to be able to develop into a queen.
These larvae are then literally flooded with royal jelly
as their diet. Royal jelly is composed of mandibular gland secretions and sugars
which stimulate feeding. It is the high quality and large amount of food which leads
to the development of a new queen.
Most of the eggs laid by the queen are placed in worker cells. These eggs are fertilized
and develop into female worker bees which are most common in a hive. Worker
bees have wings that are approximately the length of the abdomen, and the
workers are smaller than the drone bees.
A few of the eggs are placed in slightly larger drone cells. These eggs are unfertilized
and develop into drones which are the male bees. An unfertilized egg can never
produce a larvae that could become a worker or a queen.
The queen, workers and drones each have special tasks and activities all of which
combine to create a successful colony. The queen produces queen substance and
lays
eggs. The drones have the single task of mating with the queen. Once a drone
emerges, he is fed by worker bees for a few days. The drone then feeds on
honey stores for about two weeks before beginning mating flights. On these flights, the
drones leave the hive and fly to areas where other drones congregate in search of
virgin queens which might have left their own colony for mating. Mating flights
generally last less than an hour and the drones are attracted to a scent produced by a
queen.
During the fall, drones are commonly
observed at the hive entrance or found dead outside the hive.
They are apparently
driven out of the colony with the onset of winter.
last task before a bee leaves the hive to become a field bee, is to work as a guard bee.
Guard bees patrol the entrance to the hive and investigate incoming bees to make sure
they are part of the colony. A guard bee will approach and touch antennae with
incoming bees, apparently recognizing members of the hive by scent. Guard bees will
also release alarm scent if the hive is disturbed.
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Last modified 10 November 1998