The Amazing Honey Bee [Those of you who know me, know that] I rarely use superlatives. However in the case of honey bees, “amazing” and “fascinating” are appropriate. With this talk, I hope to convey that these tiny, simple creatures are truly amazing. Photo by D.J. Shlien

colony collapse disorder. We hear about various problems with bees: bee mites Africanized bees colony collapse disorder. Should we care? After all bees are just a small insect, one of very many.

Pollinator Protection Act of 2007 As a result of the CCD (colony collapse disorder) problem, this bill was submitted to congress on June 26 to fund bee research. “1/3 of the food supply of the United States depends on honey and naive bee pollination. The protection of pollinators is an issue of importance to the security of the United States food supply system;” • If the great losses of honey bees continues, we can be in a food crisis situation. • Bees are very effective pollinators because any one bee is likely to visit only flowers of one species on a single foraging trip.

“No other pollinating insect can be as easily managed and manipulated as the honey bee.” (Caron)

Inside the hive • The “natural nest” (looking up a hollow tree – in fact looks like skep). To harvest honey, need to break honeycomb. [show sample of comb sheet]

Early Man Made Hives • Early man-made hives.

1851-The Langstroth Hive • The hives we use now are essentially the hive invented by Langstroth in 1851. [bring empty hive with new foundation and drawn foundation.] Photo by Kristin Rohrbeck

Bees capping honey cells Bees capping honey. Capped honey on top RHS. Photo by Deborah Hautau

Pollen cells Pollen in cells. Unusual to see different varieties of pollen in close proximity.

Bee Types within Colony • Previous description is general. Now will discuss the various types of honey bees in a hive. [Caste – two types of female bee, so drone is not a caste] Queen Drone Worker

The Queen • She is longer than the worker bee. • The only job of mated queen is to lay eggs – 800 (typical) to 2000 per day. • She is groomed and fed by the worker bees. • There is only one queen in a colony. • It is difficult to find the queen in the colony. Her abdomen is much longer than the worker’s so that she can deposit her eggs at the bottom of cells. Pheromones produced by the queen are largely responsible for the coherence of the colony. The process of producing a queen will not be discussed here but I will shortly discuss its mating (X-rated).

Photo by Deborah Hautau The queen is in the center. Photo by Deborah Hautau

• Mating takes place 200 to 300 ft. in the air. • After mating, the drone loses his reproduction organ (barbed) in the queen and he dies. • Only about 1% of the drones get to mate. • Over several mating flights the queen will have mated with a dozen or more drones. • She stores the sperm in a sac in her abdomen and does not mate again. • She starts laying eggs within 3 days. • As she lays an egg, a few sperm passes out of storage and into the vagina where one of them fertilizes the egg. • Unfertilized eggs become drones.

Bee Types within Colony Will next discuss the drone. He is also larger than the worker and is more barrel shaped than the queen. Queen Drone Worker

The Drone • He is also larger than the worker and is more barrel shaped than the queen. • He is hatched from unfertilized eggs. • He doesn’t forage for food, he doesn’t help with the building of comb, nor can he defend the hive having no stinger. • He is fed and cared for by the workers. • When cold weather approaches and food may be scarce, the worker bees force the drones out of the hive. [back to first slide comparing castes] • After 3rd bullet: He has a cushy job. He sticks around the hive and occasionally flies outside to congregate with other drones to wait for a virgin queen to show up.

The Drone Photo from http://www.agpix.com/catalog/AGPix_ScCa13/large/AGPix_ScCa13_0086_Lg.jpg

The Worker • is the smallest of the three types. (average weight 80 mg) • there are about 50,000 bees in a hive. • her specific jobs changes with her age: - clean cells - undertaking - nursing - attending the queen - accepting nectar from foragers, deposit it in cells, add enzyme to nectar, evaporate water from nectar, also accept and pack pollen - fanning for temperature/humidity control - comb and cap building - guard duty - foraging after taking orientation flights [after second bullet] Her life span is about 6 weeks during the active season and 4 to 8 months in the less active winter season (works herself to death). - clean cells (days 1 to 3) - undertaking (days 3-16) - nursing - feeding and caring for larvae (days 4-12) - attending the queen (days 7-12) - accepting nectar from foragers, deposit it in cells, add enzyme to nectar, evaporate water from nectar, also accept and pack pollen (days12-18) - fanning for temperature/humidity control (days12-18) - comb and cap building (days12-15) - guard duty (days 18-21) - foraging after taking orientation flights (days 22-42)

Find the queen Photo by Deborah Hautau

Find the queen Photo by Deborah Hautau

Find the queen Finding the queen is not easy! Photo by Thomas Jenkins

Anatomy • could get a good idea of the honey bee external anatomy by looking at the Linnaeus classification - three parts: head, thorax, abdomen - head includes the mouth parts, and many sensory perception organs (antennae: changes in temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide [Crane], smell, touch, taste [Caron]) - thorax is the locomotor center and almost entirely filled with muscles operating wings and legs - abdomen accommodates other organs - including those for reproduction, digestion and stinging. • anatomy: open circulatory system - blood circulates freely in large cavity and not through arteries and veins. Spiracles are openings to the respiratory system. Drawing modified from R. E. Snodgrass Drawing from R.E. Snodgrass

Head • head Fig 5-5: two compound eyes and three ocelli (respond to light but can’t see).

Pollen basket Basket is really an indentation in the leg. Pollen is made sticky using nectar and sticks to a hair.

Bees with full pollen baskets entering hive. Bees with full pollen baskets entering hive. The pollen is normally fed to the growing brood. It serves as a source of protein. Photo by D.J. Shlien

Eggs- 3 days (rotate 90 degrees each day) They remain as eggs for 3 days (rotating 90 degrees each day)

Eggs as seen in cross-section of cells.

Larvae- 6 days. After 6 days the cells are capped and considered pupae Different stages of development of larvae. Tremendous growth in a few days. Larva stage is 6 days. After 6 days the larva cells are capped and they are considered pupae.

Eggs and larvae Photo by Deborah Hautau Eggs and young larvae at bottom LHS. The larva cells grow to many thousand times the original size without dividing! Photo by Deborah Hautau

Communication Dance Pheromones* Communicates the location and profitability of a food source to other foragers of the hive. Pheromones* Various pheromones are secreted by the queen and by the workers from their glands. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * “Any chemical substance released by an animal that serves to influence the physiology or behavior of other members of the same species.” (Random House Webster’s College Dictionary, Random House, NY, 1991)

Some of the many functions of the pheromones: Queen bee pheromones 1. attracts workers to her 2. informs the colony that a queen is present 3. serves as sexual attractant 4. stimulates small population hive to greater activity Worker bee pheromones 1. are used to identifying bees of a colony 2. communicates an alarm signal 3. attract bees to the hive In the future, “it may be possible to artificially introduce specific (chemical) messages into hives.” (Caron) Queen secretes a pheromone from her mandibular gland Bee beard 2. Within an hour of the queen’s removal from the hive, the bees become agitated and within four hours they begin the process of queen replacement. Pheromone is spread by the grooming workers who pick it up and passes it along throughout the hive. 3. Outside the hive 4. More pheromone per bee. Worker: 2. Pheromone released when a mammal is stung so that other bees may sting. Is also released when a hive appears to be threatened. Smoke will cover up the odor. 3. Workers can frequently be seen near the hive entrance fanning their wings. This is to spread a pheromone (excreted by Nasonov scent gland) near the hive.

Seasonal management • Inspect hives regularly: - summer: once or twice per month. winter: not at all unless there is a warm day. - spring and fall: thorough inspection every two weeks or so, as needed. • Inspect for: performance of queen, disease symptoms, poorly drawn combs, damaged hive. • In the fall: - harvest honey. - check hive for adequate stores of honey and pollen for the bees. • Not time consuming. • Feed bees sugar water solution in the fall and in the spring plus pollen replacement. • There is more to spring and fall management than indicated.

Uncapping knife Jason # 153 Photo by Jason Keeler

Honey Extractor Jason #156 Photo by Jason Keeler

• It is not time-consuming. Conclusions • Bee keeping is fun. • It is not time-consuming. • Beekeepers are friendly and very helpful. • It is a relatively inexpensive hobby and can be financially profitable. • There is a lot to learn. New situations arise all the time. • Most bee keepers are older - there is a need for new, young bee keepers. • The world needs more bee keepers - we may be facing an new crisis with CCD. If the problem is not solved (I believe it will be solved.) the cost of fruit, vegetables and meat can rise tremendously. I have yet to meet a bee keeper I don’t like Show samples of references. CCD: I believe that the problem will be solved.

Main References Blackiston, Howland (2002) Beekeeping for Dummies, Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, IN. Caron, Dewey M. (2006) Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping, Wicwas Press, Chesire, CT. Crane, Eva (1990) Bees and Beekeeping, Science, Practice and World Resources, Cornell University Press. Sammataro, Diana and Avitabile, Alphonse (1998) The Beekeeper’s Handbook, Comstock Publ. Assoc. NOTE: Much of this presentation (including unattributed photos) is based on material in Caron (2006).