1. Let’s talk Bees

2. Really lets talk bees

3. Colony Dynamics
Basic bee biology

4. Honeybees are like other Insects
They Have:
6 legs
Head, thorax, abdomen
Winged
Have hard external skeleton, called an exoskeleton.
Have jointed arms and legs.
Do not have a spine or spinal cord.
Do not have lungs
Open Circulatory System

5. Honeybees are unique Social Insects that live cooperatively
Gather and Store excess quantities of food
Overwinter (they don’t hibernate)
Only insects that are managed as livestock

6. Where are they from? Old world Apis mellifera mellifera= European
Apis mellifera scutellata= Africa
Apis cerena = Southern Asia
Apis dorsata = Southeast Asia
Apis mellifera in Latin means 'honey-bearing bee'.

7. Apis mellifera spp.

10. Basic Anatomy

11. Bee Eyes

12. What color can bees see?

13. Vision and Navigation

14. Internal Anatomy

15. Honeybee Lifecycle

16. Social Order
Queen
Worker
Drone

18. Major Glands

19. Wax Glands

20. Jobs - Never unemployment or a layoff
(Well, except for those drones)
Workers do the work in the bee society. Employment is based on the age of the bee and the needs of the colony. During their life they pass through many job promotions:
Nurse Bee
1 – 12 days
Clean own cell and others
Feeding brood (larvae)
House Bee
10 – 20 days old
Comb building
House keeping
Undertaker
Ripening honey
Climate control
Secreting/molding wax into cells
Accept and store pollen and nectar from foragers
House Security
Guard hive and its entrance (some say only about 5% of bees perform this job)
Orientation flights to learn surroundings
Field Agent
After about three weeks the girls are ready to spend the rest of their lives as foragers gathering pollen, nectar, tree resin (that they turn into propolis) and water for the hive. During this time they work themselves to death – literally
Worker bees in the summer only live about six weeks. In the winter they live a leisurely life for several months 2

21. Worker Female (generally non-reproductive)
Life span 45 days to 4 months
Egg to Maturity: 21 days
About 20,000 to 60,000 in a colony
Duties:
Cell cleaning (Day 1-2)
Nurse bee (Day 3-11)
Advanced Nurse Bees (Day 6-11)
Wax production (Day 12-17)
Guard Bees (Days )
Foraging bees (Days )

22. Guard Bees
Workers have a Nasanoff gland at the end of their abdomen. This Nasanoff gland is used by the guard bees at the hive entrance to disseminate a scent that guides young bees back to the entrance during early flights.

24. Drones Male Life span up to 4 months Don’t overwinter
Egg to Maturity: 24 days
Sexually mature at 2 weeks
Duties:
Mate with Queens
Mates once in drone congregation areas at about 300 feet above ground, then dies

25. Queens Female Life span 3-5 years Peak Productive life 1-2 years
Egg to Maturity: 16 days
Duties:
Lay eggs
Can lay 1500 eggs a day at height of season
Pheromones
Produces air-borne pheromones (“queen substance”) that keep the colony functioning orderly, loyal and protective to that queen

26. 9-oxodecenoic acid (9-ODA) 9-hydroxy-(E)-2-decenoic acid (9-HDA)

27. Brood pheromones

28. Brood Frame

29. Reproduction Bee (colony) Population Species Reproduction

30. Queen Swarm Cell

31. Communication Physical Communications Pheromones Waggle Dance Piping
Nasonav
Poison
Alarm

32. So the Waggle Dance

33. Waggle Dance –for Real

34. Break

35. Hives Naturally

36. History of Bee Hives
Lorenzo Langstroth in 1851

37. Langstroth Hive and the bee space

38. The Bees Space is:
A space between 3/8 inch and 1/4 inch is in a range of acceptable bee space, with 5/16 inch an average

39. Top Bar Hive

41. The Perfect Spot

42. Locating Hives Some other points
Cold Air Drainage
Consideration of your neighbors
A suitable flight path
Property Lines
Neighborhood rules
Special use permit
County Code (varies from county to county)

43. Getting Bees How When Packages 3 or 4 lbs with Queen Nucs Swarms
Established Hives
When
Packages late March/April/May
Nucs late spring May/June
Swarms April/May
Established Hive – Spring - Fall

44. Getting Bees
Where
Packages from Georgia, Carolinas, Tennessee, local?
Nucs Local beekeepers
Swarms , bee club network, word of mouth,
Established local beekeeper
How
Most clubs have a package run – Ashland and Richmond
Nucs – make sure they are inspected, take an experienced beekeeper
Swarm more detail to follow
Established hive – inspection and take experienced beekeeper to look at them

45. Getting Bees Package Bees 10,000 to 12,000 bees
Queen bee with attendants
Can sugar syrup

46. Package Bees Demonstration – Prep Hive Step 1. – Sugar Spray bees
Step 2. – Shake down remove queen and sugar
Step 3. – Place queen in hive
Step 4. – Shake Bees into hive
Step 5. – Place feeder
Step 6. – Close
Step 7. - Wait

47. Honey Bee Nucs 5 frames Laying Queen 2 frames of honey/pollen
3 frames of brood/pollen/honey
Free of obvious disease
Free of small hive beetles
Should have state inspection
Number one advantage – established, rapid build up

48. Swarms Advantage is they often build comb quickly and get established
Disadvantage typically older bees and old queen

49. Capture a Swarm Technique is simple but Set up hive on sheet
Bees don’t always make it easy
Set up hive on sheet
Cut branch and shake most of bees into open hive
Shake rest on to sheet
If you can’t cut branch shake or brush in Bucket

50. Getting Bees Buying a established hive
Cost expect to pay anywhere from
Price depends on season and size of hive
Make sure inspected by State for disease
Transportation a challenge for most
Age of queen is important
Expect hive beetles and varroa mites

51. Questions