Honeybees Flashcards
What insect family are bees from?
Hymenoptera
What genus are honeybees?
Apis mellifera
What are the 3 honeybee castes?
- Worker
- Queen
- Drones
What is the definition of a drone?
fertile male bee
What is main difference between a queen and worker bees?
Worker bees are infertile females and queens are fertile females
What is the nest constructed from?
wax
What is wax produced by?
A wax gland in the ventral abdomen
How is wax produced?
By metabolising honey with fat cells
How many ounces of honey does it require to produce 1 ounce of wax?
8 ounces
What do nests store?
.Brood
. Nectar/honey
. Pollen
. Water (occasionally)
True or False?
Honeybees have no internal skeleton.
True
What is the honeybees main exoskeleton composed of?
Chitin
What are the hardened plates covered by to prevent dehydration in the honeybee?
A layer of wax
What are the 3 regions of the body of a honeybee?
- Head
- Thorax
- Abdomen
What are the 2 different types of eyes found in the honeybee?
Ocelli and compound eyes
How many Ocelli are there and what is their function?
3
Detect light intensity
How many compound eyes are there?
2
How many ganglia do the neurons extend into to provide local control in the honeybee?
7
What are the functions of the 2 antenna in the honey bee?
Provide acute olfactory sensitivity as well as topochemical olfactory sense
How many mandibles are present in the honeybee?
2
How many segments is the thorax made up of?
3
How many legs does a honeybee have?
6
What legs of the honeybee are highly specialised for pollen collection?
Hind legs
What is the outer surface of the tibia equipped with?
Corbicula
How many segments is the abdomen made up of?
7 visible segments and 2 smaller segments for the sting in workers and reproductive organs in queens and drones
What type of circulation system do honeybees have?
Open circulatory system
What are the honeybees internal organs suspended in?
Haemolymph
True or False?
Bees do not have lungs.
True
They have trachae
What connects the trachae to the external environment?
Spiracles
Where does digestion/absorption take place in the honeybee?
midgut
What do worker bees have glands for?
Wax production, Defence, Food processing, Communication
Where are the hypopharyngeal glands located?
behind the face
What is the function of the hypopharyngeal glands?
Produce brood food
(proteins,lipids and vitamins)
What is the function of the nasonov gland?
Produces a scent used for orientation
True or false?
only male bees have the venom gland
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.
What is the lifespan of worker bees?
~ 4-6 weeks if born in the summer and 4-5 months if born in the winter
True or False?
Generally younger bees do jobs in the nest and older bees do jobs outside the nest.
True
What jobs do younger bees (1-10 days) do?
Cell cleaning, feed brood, tend to the queen, cap brood
What jobs do middle aged bees (10-20 days) do?
Comb construction, pollen/nectar handling, hive cleaning, ventilation
What jobs do older bees (20+ days) do?
Guard duty, hive defence, foraging
What is the one significant function that drones are designed for?
Mating
Why are new queens raised?
. The colony is too big and needs to swarm
. The old queen is running out of sperm (supercedure)
How many drones does the queen mate with?
7 - 17 drones
What caste is produced from unfertilised eggs in larger cells?
Drones
What caste is produced from fertilised eggs in smaller cells?
Workers
What 3 requirements that are needed to produce a queen?
- Fertilised egg raised in a queen cup
- fed royal jelly
- fed more
What are the 4 stages of the life cycle of a honeybee?
Egg -> Larvae -> Pupae -> Adult
How long does it take for each caste to develop?
Oueen: 16 days
Worker: 21 days
Drone: 24 days
When was the first evidence of beekeeping seen?
2,400 BCE
What is the name for a traditional beehive?
Skep
What are 2 problems associated with hives with fixed combs?
Difficult to inspect the colony
Difficult to harvest the honey
Why are the invention of the different chambers (honey supers and brood chambers) efficient?
Honey can be removed more easily without damaging the brood
What happens in Autumn in accordance to the beekeeping calender?
Colony maintenance, Conserve food, Reduce brood, death of drones
What happens in Winter in accordance to the beekeeping calander?
Maintain temperature and conserve food
What occurs in spring in accordance to the beekeeping calander?
Increase brood and start foraging
What happens in summer in accordance to the beekeeping calander?
Foraging, brood production, comb production, swarming and queen mating
What is swarming?
Natural process by which honeybee colonies form a new colony
