1. 2/21/14

4.  Bees have yearly cycle  Winter die-off  Become active in spring  Peak late summer/early fall ▪ Queens mate  If virgin, queen mates and searches for hive site once fed enough  Builds wax honeypot, fills with pollen and honey, and starts colony

5.  Usually found on or near frames containing eggs  Attendants/retinue  Queen excluder  Don’t leave super open for too long  Make sure queen is present and laying

6.  Eggs are laid near the honeypot in a pollen ball  Broods over them until hatching  About 4 days

7.  Eat pollen  Not too much else  Then -> cocoon  Silk + poop  After about 5 weeks, adult bees!

9.  Female  Differentiate various tasks  Hive building/maintenance  Foraging  Guarding  Workers live for about 4 weeks  But do a lot in the meantime

10.  Once colony is up and running, queen starts laying males  Unfertilized eggs  Once queen starts laying males, she lays no more workers  Only queens and drones -> sign of the end phase of the colony  Due to switching on/off of pheromones, workers ovaries develop and can lay males

11.  Really, not too much  Mating  Incubate young?  Once they leave the nest, they are gone for good

12.  Caste determination  Pheromones  If receives no worker pheromones and enough food, emerges from final pupal stage as queen  Just continuation of worker development  Laid during emergency, supercedure, or swarming

13.  Queens emerge after males, go forage  Attracted by chemical secreted by male  Patrol circuits  Waits for suitable partner  Queens mate only once

14.  Finds spot after mating  Stores up on nectar to survive the winter  Honey Stomach  Hibernates through winter  Glycerol as anti-freeze  Can be 6-9 months  Colonies also overwinter  Bee ball