There are approximately 25,000 species of Bee in the World There are almost 4000 species of Bee in North America There are approximately 1000 different species of Bee in Texas There are only 7-9 species of Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera) Honey Bees function as a superorganism and live in a colony.
Bees pollinate approximately 1/3 of our foods Almonds are 100% pollinated by honeybees Bees are attracted to bright color flowers yellow, orange and blue; red looks like black to bees, but they also see UV light Why do we need Bees? Bees are an ideal Pollinator! Covered with pollen and their flight creates static electricity which helps to attract more pollen! And sacs in their legs allow them to store more to bring home to the hive and food!
The Queen Bee: The queen is the only mature female in the colony. She lays thousands of eggs during her life time. A good queen may lay up to 2000 eggs in a single day. A queen has the longest life span in the colony, she may live 3-5 years. Although many beekeepers replace their queens every 1-2 years. She is 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. She develops from a fertilized egg. She must mate with 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. Under normal conditions a hive will have only one queen.
The Worker Bee: All workers are female bees created from a fertilized egg. A strong colony can have 40,000-60,000 worker bees. A worker bee spends its first 20 days working in the hive performing various tasks, and is called a house bee. And then spends the rest of her life as a forager bee. The worker bee lives about 40 days or until her wings get too worn to fly. (500 miles) She defends the hive and has a stinger. The worker bee also has pollen baskets or corbicula (long hairs) on her rear legs to gather and collect pollen and propolis while she is foraging for nectar outside the hive. If a colony becomes queenless, a female worker bee may begin to lay eggs. But because worker bees can not mate, the eggs are unfertilized and will only develop into drones.
Drones are the males in the colony. Note the general shape of the drone. 1) the head is large and the eyes predominate the head 2) the rear-end of the drone is rounded -- they have no stinger and cannot sting. They contribute to the continuation of one generation to the next generation. 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 also be created by laying workers (unmated worker bees) when a colony is queenless. The Drone Bee:
Planting for Pollinators
Spring Summer Almond Verbena 6-8 ft Sun/Part Shade Great Nectar Plant
Late Spring Summer Anacua (Ehretia Anacua) Evergreen 30 ft Sun/Part Shade Great Nectar Plant
Late Spring Summer Carolina Buckthorn Deciduous 12-15 ft Part Shade Great Wildlife Plant
Summer - Fall Kidneywood Deciduous 3-10 ft Sun Blooms May-Oct
Summer - Fall Desert Willow Deciduous 15-40 ft Full Sun Blooms Spring - Fall
Summer - Fall Bee-Brush Deciduous 6-8 ft Full Sun Bees LOVE it!
Perennials Blue Salvias Root hardy Sun Bees Love Salvias!
Perennials Desert Globemallow Root hardy 4 ft Sun
Perennials Rockrose Deciduous Sun to Shade Blooms Spring Fall
Perennials Purple Coneflower Root hardy Sun to part Shade in afternoon Blooms Spring - Fall
Perennials Fragrant Mistflower Deciduous 2-6 ft Blooms Oct Nov Late Nectar Source for Pollinators
Perennials Fall Asters Root hardy Sun Blooms Sept November Critical Nectar Source
Perennials Bee-Balm
Central Texas Nectar Flow Guide There are nectar flows and there are Honeyflows. Major nectar flows produce the vast majority of the honey in the hive, while minor flows are what hives build-up on to have the workforce needed to harvest the Major flows. For Texas, dandelion is a minor flow that contributes only to providing a little nectar to an overwintered colony, but provides poor quality pollen. With a strong hive, horsemint and Mesquite can create a major surplus of nectar if the weather cooperates. Nectar Flow Calendar for Central Texas Hill Country: January Mistletoe (produces abundant nectar according to the Texas Honey Plant book, but hive populations, and sometimes temps, are typically too low to harvest much) February Typically pollen but no true nectar flow coming in early February. Some Elm and wild mustard pollen, but mainly Dandelion and Henbit pollen. March Dandelion, chickweed April Yaupon Holly, *Indian Blanket (this is the beginning of the big nectar flow light and tasty. Shows up right after bluebonnet fades), Mesquite tree (a huge source for nectar when weather permits.) May Indian Blanket, Horsemint, Sweet Clover June Horsemint, Mesquite, Sweet Clover, Indian Blanket Mid July thru August none, Central Texas is scorched and even the roads melt. Late August Broomweed (if rain occurs) September Broomweed, Goldenrod (beginning of main fall flow), Asters October Goldenrod, Broomweed (main flow) November Broomweed (if moisture permits)