BEEEEEEs

Question 1

How to house bees

Answer 1

1. around 35,000 bees per hive
2. modern hive = we make hive so bee less energy in making comb
3. queen excluder = queen can’t enter so eggs not damaged when honey removed
4. polystyrene = insulated (fly from about 10 degs

Question 2

Different type of bees

Answer 2

1. Honey bee
   Origin E africa, various sub species, strains and hybrids, wild, feral and domesticated. In Africa more aggressive
2. Bumble bee
   Large, no honey making

Question 3

Why keep?

Answer 3

1. hobby
2. profit - honey, wax, royal jelly, pollen allergy
3. every third mouthful of food
4. sustainability

Question 4

How to stop bees stinging

Answer 4

1. in forest fire = take honey source, fill with honey

2. become dosey = not sting

Question 5

Who in the colony?

Answer 5

• One queen
• thousands of workers (females)
• Hundreds of drones (males, in summer)

Question 6

The queen

Answer 6

1. not boss
2. Egg laying machine
3. secretes pheromones to tell workers she is ok and laying eggs. If not = killed and make a new one
4. mates with drones at specific sway from site and stores sperm
5. can lay 2000 eggs/day
6. Keepers often mark
7. Can sting multiple times – often reserved for rival queens
8. Queen rearing – an art & science: you can buy a queen for about £25
9. has bees around her that “nurse” = determine her fate

Question 7

Life cycle of bee

Answer 7

• queen lays egg
• worker feeds hatched larvae = grows
• Certain size, worker seals it
• larvae reaches full growth
• hatches into bee

Question 8

Drones:

Answer 8

• 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

Question 9

Worker bee

Answer 9

• 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’

Question 10

Pollen

Answer 10

• 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.

Question 11

Honey

Answer 11

• 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.

Question 12

What makes larvae become a drone?

Answer 12

(Male)

1. If egg is unfertilised
2. Haploid!

Question 13

What makes larvae a worker?

Answer 13

1. Fertilised egg = sterile worker

2. Diploid

Question 14

What makes larvae a QUEEN

Answer 14

1. fertilised egg
2. that is fed royal jelly
3. Diploid

Question 15

How long between egg laid and worker, queen or drone develop?

Answer 15

1. worker = 3 weeks
2. Queen = 7-8 days as fed royal jelly = extra nutrients
3. drone = 24 ish days

Question 16

Life cycle of worker

Answer 16

1. 0-6 days = clean hive
2. 3- 9 = feed brood (larvae)
3. 3-15 = attend queen
4. 6-18 = honey processing
5. 12-20 = wax production and comb building
6. 15-25 = hive ventilation
7. 18-35 = guard duty
8. 20 = death, nectar collection
9. 20 = death, pollen collection
10. 25 = death = water and propolis (resin from plants = cement) collection

Question 17

Other bee husbandry

Answer 17

1. register bees
2. regular inspections
3. controlling swarms, disease
4. prep hives/ bees for winter: cluster in winter to keep warm. Queen in centre, outside bees die

Question 18

What do you inspect for

Answer 18

1. Weekly in summer
2. look for eggs/ healthy brood
3. confirm presence of queen
4. Remove unwanted queen cells
5. look for disease/ pests
6. best to carry out in good weather when most bees are flying