Honeybees

Question 1

What insect family are bees from?

Answer 1

Hymenoptera

Question 2

What genus are honeybees?

Answer 2

Apis mellifera

Question 3

What are the 3 honeybee castes?

Answer 3

1. Worker
2. Queen
3. Drones

Question 4

What is the definition of a drone?

Answer 4

fertile male bee

Question 5

What is main difference between a queen and worker bees?

Answer 5

Worker bees are infertile females and queens are fertile females

Question 6

What is the nest constructed from?

Answer 6

wax

Question 7

What is wax produced by?

Answer 7

A wax gland in the ventral abdomen

Question 8

How is wax produced?

Answer 8

By metabolising honey with fat cells

Question 9

How many ounces of honey does it require to produce 1 ounce of wax?

Answer 9

8 ounces

Question 10

What do nests store?

Answer 10

.Brood
. Nectar/honey
. Pollen
. Water (occasionally)

Question 11

True or False?

Honeybees have no internal skeleton.

Answer 11

True

Question 12

What is the honeybees main exoskeleton composed of?

Answer 12

Chitin

Question 13

What are the hardened plates covered by to prevent dehydration in the honeybee?

Answer 13

A layer of wax

Question 14

What are the 3 regions of the body of a honeybee?

Answer 14

1. Head
2. Thorax
3. Abdomen

Question 15

What are the 2 different types of eyes found in the honeybee?

Answer 15

Ocelli and compound eyes

Question 16

How many Ocelli are there and what is their function?

Answer 16

3
Detect light intensity

Question 17

How many compound eyes are there?

Answer 17

2

Question 18

How many ganglia do the neurons extend into to provide local control in the honeybee?

Answer 18

7

Question 19

What are the functions of the 2 antenna in the honey bee?

Answer 19

Provide acute olfactory sensitivity as well as topochemical olfactory sense

Question 20

How many mandibles are present in the honeybee?

Answer 20

2

Question 21

How many segments is the thorax made up of?

Answer 21

3

Question 22

How many legs does a honeybee have?

Answer 22

6

Question 23

What legs of the honeybee are highly specialised for pollen collection?

Answer 23

Hind legs

Question 24

What is the outer surface of the tibia equipped with?

Answer 24

Corbicula

Question 25

How many segments is the abdomen made up of?

Answer 25

7 visible segments and 2 smaller segments for the sting in workers and reproductive organs in queens and drones

Question 26

What type of circulation system do honeybees have?

Answer 26

Open circulatory system

Question 27

What are the honeybees internal organs suspended in?

Answer 27

Haemolymph

Question 28

True or False? Bees do not have lungs.

Answer 28

True They have trachae

Question 29

What connects the trachae to the external environment?

Answer 29

Spiracles

Question 30

Where does digestion/absorption take place in the honeybee?

Answer 30

midgut

Question 31

What do worker bees have glands for?

Answer 31

Wax production, Defence, Food processing, Communication

Question 32

Where are the hypopharyngeal glands located?

Answer 32

behind the face

Question 33

What is the function of the hypopharyngeal glands?

Answer 33

Produce brood food (proteins,lipids and vitamins)

Question 34

What is the function of the nasonov gland?

Answer 34

Produces a scent used for orientation

Question 35

True or false? only male bees have the venom gland

Answer 35

False Only female bees have the venom gland. The workers sting is barbed and the queens is not hence why only the workers die when they sting.

Question 36

What is the lifespan of worker bees?

Answer 36

~ 4-6 weeks if born in the summer and 4-5 months if born in the winter

Question 37

True or False? Generally younger bees do jobs in the nest and older bees do jobs outside the nest.

Answer 37

True

Question 38

What jobs do younger bees (1-10 days) do?

Answer 38

Cell cleaning, feed brood, tend to the queen, cap brood

Question 39

What jobs do middle aged bees (10-20 days) do?

Answer 39

Comb construction, pollen/nectar handling, hive cleaning, ventilation

Question 40

What jobs do older bees (20+ days) do?

Answer 40

Guard duty, hive defence, foraging

Question 41

What is the one significant function that drones are designed for?

Answer 41

Mating

Question 42

Why are new queens raised?

Answer 42

. The colony is too big and needs to swarm . The old queen is running out of sperm (supercedure)

Question 43

How many drones does the queen mate with?

Answer 43

7 - 17 drones

Question 44

What caste is produced from unfertilised eggs in larger cells?

Answer 44

Drones

Question 45

What caste is produced from fertilised eggs in smaller cells?

Answer 45

Workers

Question 46

What 3 requirements that are needed to produce a queen?

Answer 46

1. Fertilised egg raised in a queen cup 2. fed royal jelly 3. fed more

Question 47

What are the 4 stages of the life cycle of a honeybee?

Answer 47

Egg -> Larvae -> Pupae -> Adult

Question 48

How long does it take for each caste to develop?

Answer 48

Oueen: 16 days Worker: 21 days Drone: 24 days

Question 49

When was the first evidence of beekeeping seen?

Answer 49

2,400 BCE

Question 50

What is the name for a traditional beehive?

Answer 50

Skep

Question 51

What are 2 problems associated with hives with fixed combs?

Answer 51

Difficult to inspect the colony Difficult to harvest the honey

Question 52

Why are the invention of the different chambers (honey supers and brood chambers) efficient?

Answer 52

Honey can be removed more easily without damaging the brood

Question 53

What happens in Autumn in accordance to the beekeeping calender?

Answer 53

Colony maintenance, Conserve food, Reduce brood, death of drones

Question 54

What happens in Winter in accordance to the beekeeping calander?

Answer 54

Maintain temperature and conserve food

Question 55

What occurs in spring in accordance to the beekeeping calander?

Answer 55

Increase brood and start foraging

Question 56

What happens in summer in accordance to the beekeeping calander?

Answer 56

Foraging, brood production, comb production, swarming and queen mating

Question 57

What is swarming?

Answer 57

Natural process by which honeybee colonies form a new colony