BEEEEEEs Flashcards
1
Q
How to house bees
A
- around 35,000 bees per hive
- modern hive = we make hive so bee less energy in making comb
- queen excluder = queen can’t enter so eggs not damaged when honey removed
- polystyrene = insulated (fly from about 10 degs
2
Q
Different type of bees
A
- Honey bee
Origin E africa, various sub species, strains and hybrids, wild, feral and domesticated. In Africa more aggressive - Bumble bee
Large, no honey making
3
Q
Why keep?
A
- hobby
- profit - honey, wax, royal jelly, pollen allergy
- every third mouthful of food
- sustainability
4
Q
How to stop bees stinging
A
- in forest fire = take honey source, fill with honey
2. become dosey = not sting
5
Q
Who in the colony?
A
- One queen
- thousands of workers (females)
- Hundreds of drones (males, in summer)
6
Q
The queen
A
- not boss
- Egg laying machine
- secretes pheromones to tell workers she is ok and laying eggs. If not = killed and make a new one
- mates with drones at specific sway from site and stores sperm
- can lay 2000 eggs/day
- Keepers often mark
- Can sting multiple times – often reserved for rival queens
- Queen rearing – an art & science: you can buy a queen for about £25
- has bees around her that “nurse” = determine her fate
7
Q
Life cycle of bee
A
- queen lays egg
- worker feeds hatched larvae = grows
- Certain size, worker seals it
- larvae reaches full growth
- hatches into bee
8
Q
Drones:
A
- all males – hundreds in summer
- do not work in hive or forge
- sole purpose is to mate with the queen (in the sky) from DIFF hive
- die after mating and other die in winter
- no sting
- Drone larvae )longer incubation) more likely to have/produce varroa mite - weakens the bee by sucking fat bodies.
- killed in september
9
Q
Worker bee
A
- sterile females
- can be 35-60,000 per hive
- do all the work
- job changes over time: nurse, feed young and queen, clean/tidy hive, collect and use propolis to seal hive, collect water, nectar and pollen, make wax and honey (waggle dance), guard hive entrance.
- produce one teaspoon of honey in entire life
- live span – 6 months
- have sting – die after stinging as they tear their abdomen out
- most venom injected in first 20 secs but pump can continue for up to 2 mins
- remove sting asap.
- various contraptions to reduce sting
- antihistamine
- allergy – adrenaline
- “alarm pheromone” after stung attracts more bees to attack you the ‘attacker’
10
Q
Pollen
A
- food source – protein, feed larvae
- collected in pollen baskets
- in honey – oral dose to reduce allergy to local pollen?
- harvested from hive to be eaten.
11
Q
Honey
A
- honey is the bees winter food reserve, they don’t appreciate it being removed
- leave enough for the hive too!
- replace with sugar syrup or fondant (sugar icing).
- harvested using centrifuge – destroys wax but can be reused – saves energy in future as they don’t have to be replaced.
12
Q
What makes larvae become a drone?
A
(Male)
- If egg is unfertilised
- Haploid!
13
Q
What makes larvae a worker?
A
- Fertilised egg = sterile worker
2. Diploid
14
Q
What makes larvae a QUEEN
A
- fertilised egg
- that is fed royal jelly
- Diploid
15
Q
How long between egg laid and worker, queen or drone develop?
A
- worker = 3 weeks
- Queen = 7-8 days as fed royal jelly = extra nutrients
- drone = 24 ish days
