· Honey bees, which are social insects, live in colonies with a division of labor between the various types of bees.
· The queen is the only sexually developed female and is the largest bee in the colony. A two-day-old larva is selected by the workers to be reared as the queen. She will mate in flight with about 18 drone (male) bees, during which time she receives several million sperm cells that last her entire life span of nearly two years. A productive queen can lay 3000 eggs per day.
· Drones are stout male bees which have not stingers. Their sole purpose is to mate with the queen – after which they die.
· Workers, the smallest bees in the colony, are sexually undeveloped females. A colony can have 50,000 to 60,000. Their life expectancy normally is about 28 to 35 days. But workers reared in September and October can live through the winter. Workers feed the queen and larvae, collect nectar, produce honey, guard the hive entrance and even help keep the hive cool by fanning their wings.
· Honey bees’ wings stoke 11,400 times per minute, thus making their distinctive buzz.
-National Honey Board, USA
· The queen is the only sexually developed female and is the largest bee in the colony. A two-day-old larva is selected by the workers to be reared as the queen. She will mate in flight with about 18 drone (male) bees, during which time she receives several million sperm cells that last her entire life span of nearly two years. A productive queen can lay 3000 eggs per day.
· Drones are stout male bees which have not stingers. Their sole purpose is to mate with the queen – after which they die.
· Workers, the smallest bees in the colony, are sexually undeveloped females. A colony can have 50,000 to 60,000. Their life expectancy normally is about 28 to 35 days. But workers reared in September and October can live through the winter. Workers feed the queen and larvae, collect nectar, produce honey, guard the hive entrance and even help keep the hive cool by fanning their wings.
· Honey bees’ wings stoke 11,400 times per minute, thus making their distinctive buzz.
-National Honey Board, USA
No comments:
Post a Comment