Division of Honey Bee Labour and Activities Flashcards
Put the following tasks in order according to age polyethism, youngest to oldest:
Process Food
Clean Cells
Forage
Feed Larvae
- Clean cells (0-2 days)
- Feed larvae (2-11 days)
- Process food (11-20 days)
- Forage (20-40 days)
How often do larvae need to be fed?
a) once a day
b) once every 5-6 hours
c) once every 1-3 hours
d) once every minute
d) once every minute
What task do bees that are 2-11 days old perform?
Feeding larvae
What task do bees that are 0-2 days perform?
Cleaning cells
What age do bees take part in food processing?
11-20 days
What two processes are involved in honey production?
Physical: water evaporation
Biochemical: sugar digestion
How do bees evaporate water from nectar during food processing?
- actively make nectar ‘bubbles’ that increase the surface area exposed to dry, warm air
- passively by the bees producing currents when fanning and beating their wings
What sugar(s) is/are the main component of nectar before food processing?
Sucrose
What sugar(s) is/are the main component of honey after food processing?
Glucose
Fructose
What is the name of the process where bees ingest and regurgitate nectar repeatedly during food processing?
Trophallaxis
Bees must consume __ kg of honey to produce 1 kg of wax
8 kg
At what age do bees participate in comb building?
12-15 days after emergence
At what age do bees participate in guarding behaviour?
14-18 days after emergence
Approximately ___ - ___% of bees perform guarding at hive entrances
10-20%
Briefly describe what guarding behaviour looks like
- guards inspect all returning bees, touch them with their antennae
- identify if bee belongs to colony or intruder
- if intruder, releases alarm pheromone, unless carrying nectar
What is the main task of undertakers within colonies? How many bees perform this job?
- removing dead bees from the hive
- less than 5% of bees become undertakers
What are 4 things that determine bee behaviour?
- stimulus
- genetic predisposition
- physiological development
- hormone regulation
What are some examples of stimuli that can change bee behaviour?
- Internal environment: pheromone odours, visual stimuli like dancing, temperature, humidity
- External environment: flower odour/colour, climatic factors
- Experience
How does genetic predisposition affect bee behaviours?
- workers full of half sisters, more likely to do work for each other than their own offspring
- patrilines and subfamilies specialize in different tasks
How do bees perceive stimuli?
Patrolling inside the hive, scouting outside the hive
