BASIC BEE BIOLOGY Tammy Horn, KY State Apiarist
THE HONEY BEE COLONY Regardless of the race of bees, the colony will have three castes: One Queen (female) Workers (female), numbers depend upon season Drones (male), only during summer Together, these bees perform different functions within the hive. Bottom line: the hive is a collection of chemicals governing these bees interactions with each other
THE QUEEN The Queen is the mother of the beehive. She lays eggs and secretes chemical substances or pheromones that hold the colony together and influence the activities of the worker bees. Normally there is only one queen in the colony. The continuance of a hive is dependent on the egg-laying patters of the queen. She is the only female in the hive that has fully developed reproductive organs and can lay either fertilized or unfertilized eggs. Once a queen is made by the colony she will mate with up to 10-25 drones. Once she is mated she begins her life of laying eggs without ever having to mate again.
1. Worker bees are infertile females that develop from fertilized eggs in worker size cells. THE WORKER BEES 2. The smallest members of the colony and form the greatest part of the colonies population. 3. A colony may contain 50,000 to 90,000 workers at the height of the season. 4. The worker is well equipped for doing all the work of the colony. She has a long tongue for collecting nectar, a honey sac (or crop) for transporting nectar, pollen baskets on her hind legs for transporting pollen, four pairs of wax glands on the underside of her abdomen for secreting wax to make comb, and glands for secreting a food that is fed to all bees for the first 2 ½ days of their lives and to a queen larva during the entire larval period. 5. The worker has a stinger for protecting herself and the colony. 6. The workers build the combs, clean the hives, clean and polish the cells, collect pollen, nectar, water, and propolis, convert nectar to honey, feed immature bees, feed and care for the queen, and guard the hive.
THE DRONE Drones are the males of the colony and develop from unfertilized eggs laid by the queen in large drone sized cells. A drone is much larger and stouter than a worker and a queen although not as long as the queen. They typically are fat and stubby with big eyes on the tops of their heads. The drones have no pollen baskets, no wax glands, no stinger, and perform no hive tasks. Drones mate with queens while flying (called, mating on the wing. ) The drone falls to the ground and dies after mating. Normal colonies begin to rear drones in the spring of the year when nectar and pollen are readily available. (i.e.,
THE DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES
Developing bees from the egg stage to the time they emerge as adults, commonly known as brood. The number of days required for development of the queen, worker, and drone differs. The worker requires 21 days to develop, The queen only 16 days The drone 24 days to complete development
The Larvae The Egg
Capped Brood Adult Bee
VARROA MITES Fourth Individual in the Hive Been in the US since 1987 Feeds off the honey bees (generally the workers because the queen is groomed by workers, but mites are attracted to drone pheromone) Mate in the cells with the honey bee larvae Needs to be controlled through various methods
THE BIG UGLY
The extra time for drone development allows beekeepers a non-chemical way to control mites. Simply remove drone frame on Day 22 (before the drones emerge), put drone -frame in the freezer, and then replace in hive after three days
SOME VARROA MITE CONTROLS Thymol (Apiguard, essential oil of thyme which acts as fumigant, two applications 14 days apart after honey supers removed and temps below 90F and above 60F) Requeening with resistant queens (it also breaks up the mitereproduction cycle) Amitraz (i.e., Pharma Vita, used in Spain for 15 years, very effective in the field, just one strip application after honey is removed) Powdered Sugar considered the weakest of the controls
NEW VARROA MITE CONTROL IN 2015??? Oxalic Acid being fast-tracked by the EPA Natural compounds (you smell oxalic acid in boxwoods) Needs to be applied in November after all brood is gone, otherwise you will fry the brood
Other Basics Packages you receive a mated queen, older worker bees. Packages are best for weak colonies (remove mother queen ) or top bar hives, approx. $125.00 this year. Powder the bees before adding to colony to get mites off Nucs mated queen, daughter workers, five frames, approx. 175.00 this year Swarms older queen, older workers, the older queen will need to be replaced, but FREE bees. Only 1 in 4 swarms survive, so replace that queen as soon as the swarm is installed or combine with a weak colony
Thank you!!! Tammy Horn KY State Apiarist KY Dept. of AG 109 Corporate Drive Complex Frankfort, KY 40604 502.229.2950 Tammy.horn@ky.gov