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How do Bees Organize their Hive?

7/19/2013

Rilwanu sent me a message by using the ask a beekeeper part of this website. If anyone has a question let me know and I'll do my best to answer it. Rilwanu wrote:

How "do bees organize?"

Running a hive takes a lot of work. Just like humans, bees will work together to get their job done. Here are a couple of things that help keep them organized.

Storage- Bees also organize their home. they keep some honey and pollen near the babies who need it most, and extra honey is stored for later in another part of the hive. All of the brood or babies live together in the same part of the hive.
Chores- I know that organizing a home is a job for the whole family and it helps when we have our own responsibilities or chores. At my house it is my job to cook and get groceries and my husband maintains and fixes the house. Bees also have different chores or jobs for different family members.
Communication- To keep our days running smoothly my husband and I communicate about things we want to do and our goals. Bees also use their own language to help their sisters find what they need.

Hive Layout- A Place for Honey, Pollen, Surplus, and the Brood

Here are some photos of comb with different things stored in its cells. Can you see how the pollen is separated from the larva and capped brood. Each thing has it's own place.

Chores- A Family of 40,000 or 60,000 to Help Around the House

Each hive is made up of one very large family. As a family they have different responsibilities to help one another and care for the younger sisters and brothers. People have studied bees for hundreds of years and scientists still don't understand exactly how bees organize their hive. We are still learning how they work and stay so organized here are the basics of what we know:

Queen

The queen is the mother of the hive
There is only one queen in the hive
she leads all the other bees in the hive and she lays and fertilizes eggs

Brood

brood are the babies of the hive
there are many eggs, larva, and pupa growing in the hive
they don't have a lot of responsibility since it is a lot of work just to turn into an adult insect

Drones

drones are the brothers and eventually become fathers
they are the only boys in the hive and there are not many of them
their only responsibility is to mate with the queen

Workers

all of the workers are sisters
workers are the girls in the hive that do all the work
workers have many jobs throughout their lives, they clean, care for the brood, build comb, guard the hive, and forage.

Communication- Helping Your Sister Find Some Food

Bees have their own language that is very different from our own. They dance to tell others where nectar and pollen are, how much there is, and if it is high quality. Here is a short clip about the waggle dance. This bee is using it to tell others where a new home could be, but bees also use this dance to tell others where to get nectar.

Watch The Waggle Dance on PBS. See more from NOVA scienceNOW.

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Field Trip to the Bee Yard

5/22/2013

4 Comments

Today I got to check out my bees and show them to my niece and nephews. My niece was a little scared ad first, but she was courageous and brave and got real close to see the bees working in the hive. She felt safe, wearing the veil. We saw brood in the larva and pupa stages, some pollen, and lots of honey. We even got to taste a little honey. Here is a letter my nephew wrote me after seeing all the bees. He wanted me to fill in the blanks like a worksheet.

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Do Bees Sting other Bees?

4/30/2013

23 Comments

Elijah, who is 5 1/2 sent me a message by using the ask a beekeeper part of this website. I think I have an interesting answer.

"Do bees sting each other on the back or something? I was wondering. I know what bees make -- they make honey!"

First a few facts:

When a honeybee stings a mammal they lose their stinger because it gets stuck in the mammal's thick skin
If a honey bee loses its stinger they will die so they only sting if they really need to
Honeybees can sting other insects multiple times
When workers are 21 days old they have the strongest stingers so they become guard bees

There are a few bees, called guard bees that stay near the entrance to protect their hive from intruders. They inspect every bee that enters. They can smell the bee and tell if they are from this hive or another. If a bee from another hive comes to the door with pollen or nectar the guards won't stop them. It's like they are bringing gifts. If a honey bee from another hive comes with nothing the guards won't let them enter. Here a a photo of a the entrance on a busy sunny day. As the hive population grows, I may make the entrance larger, but that will mean they will need more guard bees.

If a wasp, bumble bee, or yellow jacket tries to enter the guard bees will not let them in either. They will release a pheromone or a smell to warn the others. It works a lot like a fire alarm warning people there may be a fire. Other bees will come out and attack. These insects may have been trying to rob the hive, by stealing their honey, the bees will attack. One day I found a dead Bumble bee in front of my hive. I wonder if he was trying to steal some honey.

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How do Beekeepers get Honey out of a Hive?

4/3/2013

1 Comment

It is not time to start harvesting honey yet, but It is still pretty interesting. My friend Evan sent me a message by using the ask a beekeeper part of this website. If anyone has a question let me know and I'll do my best to answer it. Evan wrote:

"I would like to know how you get honey out of a hive"

I'll post photos and explain more about how it works when its time to harvest the honey, but here is a short answer:

When the bees have filled the combs with honey, and the last warm days have come it is time to harvest. This normally happens in the Fall, before it gets to cold. If it is too cold the bees will start eating their stored honey.
Beekeepers will brush the bees off the frames that they want to harvest. They will leave enough frames of honey for the bees to eat through the winter.
These frames will hold cells full of honey that have a wax cap on top. The beekeeper will use a scraper or a warm knife to slice off the cap or lid of each cell.
Once the cells are uncapped the honey is free to flow out of the cells.
To make sure we get the most honey out, beekeepers use an extractor. An Extractor can hold three frames and spin them like a washer spins the water out of clothes. The beekeeper will do once side and then flip the frames to get honey out of the other side of the frame.
Then it is time to package the honey.

Here is a short video of a beekeeper harvesting honey:

Film by Tiger in a Jar
Music by Helios, "Hope Valley Hill"

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Buzz (the blog)

How do Bees Organize their Hive?

Hive Layout- A Place for Honey, Pollen, Surplus, and the Brood

Chores- A Family of 40,000 or 60,000 to Help Around the House

Queen

Brood

Drones

Workers

Communication- Helping Your Sister Find Some Food

Field Trip to the Bee Yard

Do Bees Sting other Bees?

How do Beekeepers get Honey out of a Hive?

Here is a short video of a beekeeper harvesting honey:

Amanda

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