1. Colonial Beekeepers Association
BEGINNING BEEKEEPING
DAY 2
Sponsored by the
Colonial Beekeepers Association

2. Honey Bee Biology and Colony Organization
This lesson will be on Honey Bee Biology and Colony Organization
Let’s begin by discussing BASIC honey bee biology

3. Apis mellifera The scientific name for the western honey bee.
You will see the word honey bee spelled as two words and as a single word.  But it is correct to spell it as two words like House fly, and bumble bee. 
The genus Apis is Latin for "bee",
The species mellifera comes from Latin melli- "honey" and ferre "to bear“
—hence the scientific name means "honey-bearing bee".
Then comes the subspecies: dark bee (A. m. mellifera), Italian bees (A. m. ligustica), African subspecies A. m. scutellata,
Currently, there are only seven recognized species of honey bee with a total of 44 subspecies
Apis dorsata, the giant honey bee
Apis cerana, the Eastern honey bee proper

4. Basic Honey Bee Biology
Honey bees are INSECTS
Invertabret animal having an exosketeton
They have 3 body parts; Head, Thorax, and Abdomen
They have 3 pairs of jointed legs
They have 2 compound eyes and 3 simple eyes (ocelli)
They have 2 antennae
Specialization of function:
HEAD contains the main sensory structures: antennae, eyes, mouth – antenna are used for touch, smell, taste and hearing; eyes for seeing mosaic images that detect movement better than high resolution images; mouth consists of mandibles (like teeth) and proboscis (sucking)
THORAX supports the mobility structures: 4 wings; forewing and hindwing, 3 pairs of legs
ABDOMEN contains the digestive tract, reparatory tract, reproductive organs, 6 wax glands, sting

5. Colony Organization Eusocial Honey Bees are Highly Socialized Insects
Under natural conditions they nest in cavities and build multiple combs.
Now to move on to Colony Organization
Eusocial

6. The Players (castes) Queen - female Workers - female Drones - male
Honey bees enlist a caste system to accomplish the tasks that ensure survival of the colony.
Each member of the community fulfills a need that serves the group.
Tens of thousands of worker bees, all females, assume responsibility for feeding, cleaning, nursing, and defending the group.
Male drones live only to pass on the genetics of their colony by mating,
Queen is the only fertile female in the colony.

7. The inhabitants of the hive
Together they are the inhabitants of what we call a “HIVE”

8. The Queen Profile The queen is a mature, fertile female.
She lays thousands of eggs during her life time. 
A queen has the longest live span in the colony living for years versus months. 
She is normally larger than the other bees in the hive and has a slim torpedo shape. 
She does have a stinger, but uses it to kill other queens.
Under normal conditions a hive will have only one queen.
The queen is a mature female. 
She lays thousands of eggs during her life time.  Can produce 1,500 eggs per day or more at the height of the brood season
A queen has the longest live span in the colony living for years versus months.  Can live for 2-5 yrs
She is normally larger than the other bees in the hive and has a slim torpedo shape.  Only actively reproducing female
She does have a stinger, but uses it to kill other queens.
Under normal conditions a hive will have only one queen.

9. Queen Profile One queen (normally) Only actively reproducing female
Can produce 1,500 eggs per day or more at the height of the brood season
Can live for 2-5 yrs
M. Frazier

10. Some Facts About the Queen Bee
She develops from a fertilized egg.
She mates with many drones to produce fertilized eggs.
She is the mother of all the bees in the hive.
Her role in the hive is to produce eggs and to release pheromone signals within the hive.
She does have a stinger, but uses it to kill other queens.

11. Worker Profile Female but typically not able to reproduce
A colony will have 20, ,000
Live for 4-6 weeks in summer, 4-5 months in winter
M. Frazier

12. Workers Worker bees are sexually underdeveloped females.
They may number as many as 60,000 in a colony.
They are called workers because that is what they do.
Female worker bees under certain conditions can lay eggs but because they are not mated, they produce eggs that only develop into drones.
Worker bees are sexually underdeveloped females.
They may number as many as 60,000 in a colony.
The population of a colony depends on a number of factors such as:
the egg laying ability of the queen,
the space available in the hive (area where the bees live)
and the incoming food supply.
They are called workers because that is what they do.
They collect food and water for the colony,
build wax comb,
do the housework,
maintain the interior temperatures of the hive
and guard the hive against intruders [in other words: they can sting].
Female worker bees under certain conditions can lay eggs but because they are not mated, they produce eggs that only develop into drones.

13. Some Facts About Worker Bees
Develops from a fertilized egg
A worker bee spends its first 20 days in the hive performing various task – cleaning cells, feeding young larva, building wax comb, etc.
She defends the hive. She has a stinger, but can sting only once. She dies soon after stinging.
The worker bee also has pollen baskets on her rear legs to gather and collect pollen while she is foraging for nectar outside the hive.
Wax comes from 4 pairs of wax glands under the abdomen.
Worker bees are sexually underdeveloped females.
They may number as many as 60,000 in a colony.
The population of a colony depends on a number of factors such as:
the egg laying ability of the queen,
the space available in the hive (area where the bees live)
and the incoming food supply.
They are called workers because that is what they do.
They collect food and water for the colony,
build wax comb,
do the housework,
maintain the interior temperatures of the hive
and guard the hive against intruders [in other words: they can sting].
Female worker bees under certain conditions can lay eggs but because they are not mated, they produce eggs that only develop into drones.

14. Meet the Drone bee Drones are the males in the colony.
Note the general shape of the drone.
Notice two things:
The head is large and the eyes predominate the head.
The rear-end of the drone is rounded --they have no stinger and can not sting.   Although they are usually considered worthless, they  contribute to the continuation of  one generation to the next generation.
Males -sexually mature at 2 weeks
Mate with female virgin queens
Mate in flight
Upon mating they die
Forced out of the hive in late fall

15. Some Facts About the Drone Bee
The drone is the male bee in the hive.
He develops from an unfertilized egg. Meaning he is passing on genetic material from his mother only.
He provides ½ of the genetic material in worker bees.
His life span depends on the health of the colony. During poor honey flows and honey shortages, drones may be driven from the hive. This happens at the onset of winter as well.
Drones can be created by laying worker honey bees.

16. Among Females - Reproduction
Division of Labor
Among Females - Reproduction
Among Workers – All the work of the hive except laying eggs
Based on two things:
The age of the bee
The needs of the
colony
It’s highly elastic
The queen lays the eggs and the workers WORK!

17. Nurse bees
days
Self-grooming
Cell cleaning
Feeding brood

18. House Bees 10-20 days old Comb building Hive cleaning
Accepting nectar and pollen from foragers
Undertakers
Hive guarding
Climate control
M. Frazier

19. Field Bees From about 20 days until death (30-45 days) Collect Nectar
Pollen
Water
Plant resins
M. Frazier

20. Biological Information
All honey bees come from eggs.
All honey bees develop into larva.
All honey bees go thru something called Metamorphosis.
The development times for all honey bees differ by caste.
Lets look at each of these.

21. Development Complete Metamorphosis Egg Larva Pupa Adult
Dadant and Sons

22. The development times for all honey bees differ by
Beekeeping Math
The development times for all honey bees differ by
Cast and Gender
Caste Hatch Cap Emerge
Queen ½ days 8 days days Laying 28 days +-5
Worker ½ days days days Foraging 42 days +-7
Drone ½ days days days Flying to DCA 38 days +-5

23. The development times for all honey bees differ by
Beekeeping Math
The development times for all honey bees differ by
Cast and Gender
Egg Larva Pupa Total
Queen
Worker
Drone

24. Development
M. Frazier

25. All honey bees come from eggs
A queen honey bee can lay over 2000 eggs in a single 24 hour period.
If your math is good, multiply this by 10, 20, 30, and 40 days the general life span of worker bees.
Eggs are deposited into cells.
2,000 x 40 = 80,000

26. All honey bees develop into larva
Larva in cells look somewhat like little worms. The body is composed of a head plus 13 ring-like divisions or segments.
It grows to fill the cell very quickly. Between the day it emerges from the egg until it reaches the fifth day of development, it will grow six times it’s body weight during each 24 hour period of development.
Healthy larva are white in color.

27. Then a Pupa..
M. Frazier

28. The cells of honey bees differ by caste
                                                                                           
Queen cells
Worker cell
Drone cells

29. The development times for all honey bees differ by
Beekeeping Math
The development times for all honey bees differ by
Cast and Gender
Caste Hatch Cap Emerge
Queen ½ days 8 days days Laying 28 days +-5
Worker ½ days days days Foraging 42 days +-7
Drone ½ days days days Flying to DCA 38 days +-5

30. Fertilized Eggs
Unfertilized Eggs
Female
Male
Worker
Queen

31. Fertilized vs. Unfertilized
Worker cells vs. Drone Cells
Worker
M. Frazier
Drone

33. All fertilized eggs have the potential to become Queens
Worker vs. Queen
All fertilized eggs have the potential to become Queens
Royal Jelly
Three Days as Larvae
The first
S. Camazine

34. Eggs and Larva

35. When is a new queen made? Swarming – Normal hive reproduction.
Swarming should be avoided.
Supersedure – Replace an old or failing Queen
Emergency – When something happens to the Queen???

36. In all cases these fertilized larvae are
Housed in larger cells
Fed large amounts of royal jelly throughout larval life
M. Frazier

37. Queen Cells
Supercedure cells are queen cells found along the center of a given frame.
Swarm cells are found clinging to the bottom of the brood frame and are used to rear a SECOND QUEEN

38. In Swarming The old queen participates in the requeening process
D. Sammataro

39. In An Emergency Situation
The old queen does
Not participate in
Re-queeing process
M. Frazier

40. NEW Virgin Queen Seeks out cells and kills developing queens
If others queens have emerged, queens fight to the death
After a few days she makes her mating flight, mating with drones
Returns and after a few days begins to lay eggs
M. Frazier

41. What happens if the returning queen doesn’t make it Back?

42. Introduce a NEW Queen Get a new queen or Make a new queen
D. Sammataro

43. If not, what happens...
S. Camazine

44. A colony of drones
Hopelessly Queenless
M. Frazier

45. Any Questions ???