HONEY BEE BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR LANCE WILSON CERTIFIED MASTER BEEKEEPER GMBP 1

LEARN THE SCIENCE 2

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African Bee European Bee Photo: Sean McCann 4 WHICH BEE IS AFRICANIZED?

KILLER BEES THE AFRICANIZED HONEYBEE 5

WHAT IS A HONEY BEE? 100 million years ago 6

WHERE DID OUR WESTERN HONEY BEE COME FROM? 7

TROPICAL TO TEMPERATE 8

BEES ARE TROPICAL ANIMALS 9

ADJUSTMENTS TO TEMPERATE LIFE  STARTED HEAT GENERATION  MOVED INTO CAVITIES  GENERATED HEAT AND FORMED CLUSTERS TO RAISE BROOD EARLY  STORED A GREAT DEAL OF HONEY FOR WINTER DEARTH  REDUCED SWARMING 10

EUROPE SUBSPECIES 11  German Black bee  Italian Bee  Carniolan Image Randy Oliver

EUROPEAN ADAPTIONS  NON DEFENSIVE  OCCUPY CAVITIES  STORE HONEY  DO NOT SWARM AS MUCH  CLUSTER TO STAY WARM  THEY RECREATED THE TROPICAL CONDITIONS THAT THEY ARE PREADAPTED TO IN THE TROPICS 12

AFRICAN SUBSPECIES 13

AFRICAN BEE 14 He don’t care  Make bees not honey  Very defensive-predation pressure  Forage all year long  Will abandon hive if disturbed-absconding  Colony out in the open

SO WHAT'S IN THE UNITED STATES? German Black Bee

GERMAN BLACK BEE 16  Acclimated to Cold Weather  Susceptible to Brood Diseases  Moderate Honey Hoarder  Very Defensive  Runs On Comb

THEY MOVED WEST 17

SECOND WAVE Italians, Carniolans, etc.

19 ItalianCarniolan  Fast Brood Up  Maintain large Pop  Good Honey Hoarders  Prone to Robbing  Moderate Temperament  Acclimatized to hot temperatures  Fast Brood Up  Maintain Small Pop  Disease Resistant  Not Prone to Robbing  Decent Honey Hoarders  Prone to Swarming  Very Mild Temperament  Acclimatized to colder temperatures Color of honey bees is extremely variable

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NATIONAL FERAL POPULATION 22 62% 37% Italian/Carnica German Black Bee Delaplane lecture notes

HONEY BEE ANATOMY 23

ANATOMY 24

ANATOMY 25

ANATOMY 26

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ANATOMY 28 Practical Take Away! Scratch the stinger out, smok e the area.

ANT 29

NAKED BEEKEEPING 30

STINGLESS BEE 31

ANATOMY Darwin 32

SUPERORGANISM DR. WHEELER 1911  Pheromones  Organs  Reproduces  Thermoregulates  Comb  Breathes  Can’t live away 33

SUPERORGANISM=COMMUNISM? 34

TROPHALAXIS 35

THE HIVE MIND  Highest form of life?  Highly successful 36

OCCUPANTS OF THE COLONY 37

DRONE MATING 38

MCDONALD’S 39

WE KNOW INBREEDING 40 Is Not So Good……

POLYANDRY 41 Practical Take Away! Queens replaced by the colony in the late fall or winter might do poorly.

ADVANTAGES OF POLYANDRY  BETTER COMMUNICATION  MORE NECTAR AND POLLEN  GREATLY REDUCED PATHOGEN AND PARASITE DISEASES (TARPY AND SEELEY)  MICROBIOME-MORE BENEFICIAL AND LESS MALIGNANT BACTERIA  CORRELATED WITH GREATER LONGEVITY AND HEALTH 42

QUEEN Queen Two Things:  Royal egg layer  Produces pheromones 43

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45 Just a figurehead

QUEEN ROYAL EGG LAYER 46

QUEEN PRODUCES PHEROMONES 47 Practical Take Away! Well formed retinue suggests a well mated queen.

WORKER  Makes all the decisions  Does all work  Makes up 95-99% 48

WORKER TASKS  NURSE BEES 1-10 DAYS  INTERMEDIATE DAYS  FORAGING DAYS  LONGEVITY 49

FORAGING  WATER  PROPOLIS  POLLEN  NECTAR 50 Practical Take Away! Provide water close to your hives.

FORAGING PROPOLIS 51

FORAGING POLLEN  Contains 10-30% crude protein  Essential for brood rearing  Fidelity 52 Practical Take Away! Critically important, aways monitor pollen coming in and their stores

FORAGING NECTAR  Contains 10-40% sucrose  Essential for energy 53 Practical Take Away! Monitor honey stores, need 3 full deeps always.

NECTAR GUIDES 54  Coevolution-UV reflecting pigment  Bee fidelity  Attracted by color and smell

 1/3 OF THE BEES ARE FORAGERS  PARKER 1926  FORAGE FOR 2 WEEKS OUT OF A 35 DAY LIFE SPAN DURING THE SUMMER  AVERAGE POLLEN TRIP IS ONE HOUR-AVERAGE LOAD 50MG  AVERAGE NECTAR TRIP IS MINUTE-AVERAGE LOAD 50MG  CAN COLLECT UP TO 21LBS PER DAY 55

NECTAR FORAGING START FORAGING FOR NECTAR AT 55F AND INCREASES LINEARLY UP TO 90F 56 55F 70F 85F 95F 105F

WIND 57 Graph Dr. Hoopingarner

SCOUTING BEHAVIOR  5-25% OF THE FORAGERS ARE SCOUTS  THEY RECRUIT OTHER BEES 58

FORAGE AREA  4 MILES-OVER 50 SQUARE MILES  50% OF ¼ MILE OPTIMAL FORAGE THEORY  FORAGES STAY WITH PREFERENCE 59

INFORMATION EXCHANGE 60 Dance Floor Honey Storage

SEX DETERMINATION 61

QUEEN WORKER-CASTE 62

DEVELOPMENTAL TIMES 3-DAYS 6-Days 12-Days 63 Practical Take Away! Know developmental times so you can determine queen status

WHAT THE STAGES LOOK LIKE IN THE FIELD 64

QUEEN REPLACEMENT/REPRODUCTION 65  Emergency  Supercedure  Swarming

QUEEN “THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE!” 66 (monogynous societies) Practical Take Away! If you wish to requeen you must first eliminate the existing queen

EMERGENCY QUEEN REPLACEMENT 67

SUPERCEDURE 68 Practical Take Away! If you see cells in the middle and the queen it is likely supercedure.

SWARMING REPRODUCTION 69 Practical Take Away! If you have congestion in the spring with cells on the bottom you need to take emergency swarm control measures.

COLONY LIFE CYCLE 70

MORE ACCURATE PORTRAYAL 71 HIGH LOW Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Bee Population Nectar Flow

SWARMING/REPRODUCTION 72

COMMUNICATION 73  Zoology Doctorate  Over 70 research papers  Proved insects can hear and learn  Pioneering research on honey bee color pattern recognition  All later bee communication studies were based on these methodologies Charles Henry Turner

COMMUNICATION  Humans  Some higher primates  Honey bees? 74 Karl von Frisch

COMMUNICATION 75

COMMUNICATION 76 Odor Plume School

FINAL PROOF 77

TEXAS A&M BEE LAB 78

RECOMMENDED 79

FOR PRESENTATION INQUIRES CONTACT 80 LANCE WILSON CERTIFIED MASTER BEEKEEPER GMBP

QUESTIONS 81

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