Apiculture Management Flashcards
Taxonomy of bees
-Phylum
-Class
-Order
-Superfamily
-Family
-Phylum: Arthropoda
-Class: Insecta
-Order: Hymenoptera
-Superfamily:Apoidea
-Family: Apidea
Spp. of honey bees
“Rock Bee”
(italic) Apis dorsata
Sp. of honey bees
“Little bee”
(italic) Apis florea
“Asian bee”
Apis cerana
European bee
Apis mellifera
Characteristic of Apis Dorsata
-open nesting
-large single comb that attaches to branches of trees and rocks
-Biggest honey bee
-temperament: furious
-Number of cells/10cm comb: 18-19
Characteristics of Apis florea
- open nesting
- single SMALL comb that attaches to branches of TREES and BUSHES
- SMALLEST HONEYBEE
- temperament: mild
- # of cells/10cm comb: 32-36
Characteristics of Apis cerana
- Cavity nesting
- builds parallel combs in cavities of tree trunks, hollows or rocks, poles
- medium size
- Temperament: furious
- # of cells/10cm comb: 21-25
Characteristics of Apis Mellifera
- cavity nesting
- Builds parallel combs in cavities of tree trunks, hollows or rocks, poles
- medium sized
- temperament: gentle
- # of cells/10cm comb: 17-19
which segment of the bees’ thorax contains wings
mesothorax & metathorax
how many segments does the abdomen of a larvae have? how about the adults?
10 segments for larvae
6 segments for adults
where are the wax glands of bees located?
present in the sternites 4-7
Where are the sweat glands of bees located?
In the last 2 terga
sac-like structure in the queen for sperm storage
Spermatheca
How unique is the digestive system of a bee?
The esophagus of bees is expanded with honey stomach, wherein it is used as a storage for the collected nectar by the bees.
-proventiriculus (x-shaped)
The imperfect female in the colony organization. They are unable to mate, though they may stary egg laying
workers
duties of a worker bee till 3rd day of emergence)
Maintain wax cells sanitary state, cleaning their walls and floors, after emergence of you bees
Duties of a worker bee from 4th-6th day
Feed older larvae with mixture of honey and pollen, and making flights around the hive for getting the layout of the hive
Duties of a worker bee from 7th - 11th day
Hypopharyngeal glands (food glands) get developed and start secreting royal jelly and feed younger larvae
duties of a worker bee from 12th - 18th day
The bees develop wax glands and work on building comb, construction of cells, etc.
Receive nectar, pollen, water, propolis from field gatherers and deposit in the combs cells and help in keeping the brood warm
Duties performed by a worker bee from 18th to 20th day
guard duty
duties performed by a worker bee from 20th day onwards.
field duty
exploring or foraging for nectar and pollen; collecting water and propolis
Neither perform any duty in the hive.
they are fed by 3-4 worker bees and are driven out by the colony when new queens are being produced.
drones
max lifespan of drones
59 days
(social behavior of bees) the exchange of food:
communication regarding availability of food& water
Trophallaxis
Social behavior of bees:
Performed by bees if food source is nearby
Round dance
Social behavior of bees:
performed when the distance of food source is more than 100m from the hive
wag-tail dance
Social behavior of bees: this dance elicits nestmates to help a bee groom
Grooming dance
Social behavior of bees: this dance used to elicit swarming behavior
“buzzing runs”
when is the period of swarming
This is when the queen has reached her peak of brood rearing activity under the stimulus of incoming pollen and nectar, mainly in late spring or early summer.
causes of swarming
-overcrowding
- lack of ventilation
- presence of old queen
- sudden honey flow
- lack of space for egg laying & honey storage
Period when honey bees gather and store surplus honey in the hive
Honey flow
What are the indications of a honey flow?
Whitening of honey cells of the combs.
- appearance of large quantities of burr and brace combs
- increase weight of the colonies due to incoming nectar
First abdominal segment is united with the metathorax and forms anatomically a part of the thorax known as?
Propodeum
Unique anatomical structure of worker bees where nectar is stored
honey stomach
Explain wag-tail dance
The bee starts dancing on the comb making a half circle to one side and then takes a sharp turn and runs in a straight line to a starting point. Thereafter takes another half circle on the opposite direction to complete one full circle.
location of food is indicated by direction of straight run in relation to line of gravity.
Queen substance from queen bee that serves as an alarm pheromone and alarm odor from worker bees
9-oxo-2-decenoic acid (9-ODA)
Cause of swarming
-Overcrowding and lack of ventilation
- Presence of Old queen
- Sudden honey flow
-lack of space for egg laying & honey storage
Time of swarming
10am to 2pm on sunny days
