The Life of Honey Bees
Honey bees are intelligent creatures. They keep their community running smoothly and they never ask for outside help. They don’t pollute or use any more than they need. They provide for their own and share with others.
Honey bees are the most amazing creatures in our world and without them we would not exist. Just think about it, if our civilization followed the bees example we would have a perfect society. Well I don’t know if the Queen mother would agree with me on that one. If you are interested in keeping bees there are many books about honeybees and bee hives available. A entomologist once said that the bees are the second most written about subject aside from humans.
Image via Wikipedia
The average bee hive in Georgia produces about seven and a half gallons of honey each year. The benefit of bees go far beyond our breakfast pancakes. Bees pollinate plants helping them grow, thereby allowing humans to survive. They also sound the alarm if insecticide residue gets too high. Bee venom is used to treat arthritis, and bees are used to make antibiotic substances.
Our fore fathers thought so highly of bees that it was thought they could be used as a model for human society. After seeing their organization skills they thought by studying bees a people might find insight into human relationships, business, politics, and other circumstances relating to humankind. In a bee hive every bee plays it’s part.
Image via Wikipedia
Each honey bee has a role that has to be carried out daily for the survival of the hive. If the nurse bees didn’t take care of the larvae, no new bees would grow, and the hive would die. If the worker bees did not bring back pollen to the hive, the queen would not be fed and the hive would die. But alas, bees seem to have something humans are missing. They have an innate knowledge of their responsibility.
Image by kevincole via Flickr
There are three types of honey bees that make up a hive. The queen bee, the fertile male bees, called drones who do not sting and their only duty is to try to mate with the queen. The sterile female worker bees gather pollen,protect the hive, and care for the larvae. There is one queen bee and the rest of the hive serves her. She has nothing to do but have hundreds of baby bees. The Queens only duty is to eat and breed with the fertile male bees. When it’s time for a new queen, the colony picks out one of the eggs. The nurse maid bees will secrete royal jelly into it to make it develop ovaries so it will be fertile. A queen bee can lay 15,00 eggs a day. It will take about four days for a queen bee to hatch, other eggs hatch in about 21 days.
Image via Wikipedia
The sterile worker bees go out to collect pollen to bring back to the hive. They store pollen on their hind legs. This pollen is used to make honey. The honey will taste differently according to the plants the pollen was gathered from. Some honey may taste sweeter and some will have a sour flavor.
Image via Wikipedia
The nurse bees are sterile worker bees who take care of the eggs and keep the cells clean. They must feed the larvae and prevent any harm from coming to them. A nurse bee starts its life doing small chores and gradually takes on more responsible duties.
Bees wax is made from secretion from under the honey bee’s arms. The wax is the substance that makes the compartments of the hives and holds the developing larvae. It is what holds the honey. Bees are naturally clean creatures and many say unpasteurized honey is better for humans than that sold in stores.
Image via Wikipedia
The average life span for a bee is about six weeks. If it stings someone and loses it’s stinger it will die within two days. If you are stung by a honey bee, remove it by a sweeping motion of a sharp object, much like shaving, to ensure more venom is not released.
Liked it
37 Responses to “The Life of Honey Bees”
On March 16, 2009 at 4:59 am
Very nice article maam. SO informative.
On March 16, 2009 at 5:32 am
Excellent article Ruby very informative and very well presented. I am scared to death of bees but do like looking at them from afar lol
On March 16, 2009 at 5:33 am
Great stuff Ruby. Was unsure about the drones tho’. Isn’t it workers, drones ( fertile males ) and the Queens?
Love the idea – great seeing more advanced articles. j
On March 16, 2009 at 5:39 am
A great read – very informative and the pictures are well chosen too. Mind if I blog it?
On March 16, 2009 at 6:29 am
Interesting!
On March 16, 2009 at 7:39 am
Humanity could learn a lot from these guys!
On March 16, 2009 at 8:02 am
Such an informative and well composed article. Thank you for sharing this. Michael
On March 16, 2009 at 8:40 am
A very interesting article. I’m terrified of bees, but they are very useful to have around. I just try to keep my distance from them.
On March 16, 2009 at 8:41 am
An amazing article. I am learning so much from your writing, Ruby. Well done.
Christine
On March 16, 2009 at 8:50 am
The biggest difference between bees and humans is our capacity to think and choose. Bees act on nature’s programming, simular to the programming of a computer. Humans can choose to act in any way they want, which often gets us into trouble.
On March 16, 2009 at 9:11 am
Good article! Bees are indeed amazing. One clarification … the hive has a queen, worker bees, and drones. The worker bees are all female … yes, the females do ALL the work in the hive. The males (drones) do nothing but go out and try to mate with a queen. A drone gets one shot at mating … it dies in the mating process. My understanding is that the drones also have no stingers (contrary to popular opinion, the male bees do not protect the hive).
On March 16, 2009 at 9:58 am
very interesting piece. I agree with you 100%..Honey is the most healthiest food ever. Thanx 4 sharing
On March 16, 2009 at 11:04 am
Local honey is usually the best honey.
On March 16, 2009 at 11:14 am
A very interesting and informative article. We could learn much from the bees. Thank you for this.
On March 16, 2009 at 11:30 am
Great article, very well done and lots of info. i did one on the honey bee for another sitre a while back and it was fun, i learne so much.
On March 16, 2009 at 11:51 am
Excellent and informative article. The life on the honey bee fascinates me, I enjoyed this. Lovely photos.
On March 16, 2009 at 11:59 am
Interesting!!I learned a lot from this article!The bee community are not only fantastic but they’re CLEVER too!!:-)
On March 16, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Very interesting article Ruby. Although I know that Bees are needed creatures, I am petrified of them. My neighbours must think I am crazy when they see me dancing around all by myself in the garden when one comes to close to me.
On March 16, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Great article Ruby! Bees are annoying, but I do not think that most people get just how much these tiny little wonders do for us.
You are so evil LOL I am trying to watch my weight and you just had to show that bisc w/ honey. Now I am having a craving. Thanks a lot friend…LOL
On March 16, 2009 at 4:35 pm
i dont need to buy the national geographic any more you have wrote better than them god bless i liked it it was very detailed i have been writting poetry all day and this was good too read
On March 16, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Lovely article. It reminds me how much I’ve always wanted to keep bees. Maybe when I retire…
On March 16, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Thank you good friends for your interest and comments. Daisy, I used to want to keep bees but my late husband was deathly afraid of them so I never did. I did go once and help my nephew rob his hives. He knew how much I liked bees and invited me to help him. I loved doing it.
Nutube and James, thanks for pointing out that I had left out some important information. I have put a fix on it. It should show up soon.
Lanne, my late husband was just as you are about bees. He would go crazy if he saw a bee.
I thank you all for your input. You are the best.
On March 16, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Your articles are always so informative and interesting!
On March 16, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Wonderful and very informative article, Ruby!
On March 16, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Interesting and informative well written article.
On March 16, 2009 at 8:33 pm
Well-written and informative.
Inna
On March 16, 2009 at 9:15 pm
We need to look after our bees! Crucial insects!!
On March 16, 2009 at 9:33 pm
I love honey, even add this to my drink….
On March 16, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Well I’m glad they exist because I love honey
On March 16, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Amazing facts on honey bee. Some bees are making their home in my garden. Don’t know what to do except letting them.
On March 16, 2009 at 10:06 pm
great article and nice photos, no wonder God mention the bees in the Bible.
On March 17, 2009 at 4:11 am
Bees are indeed interesting creatures. Thanks for this very informative article.
On March 17, 2009 at 8:02 am
Great one Ruby…
On March 17, 2009 at 8:32 am
this is very informative, they’re so clever…
On March 17, 2009 at 8:43 am
I had no idea that they had such short life spans.
I love honey though, so it’s good to learn about the bees who make it.
On March 21, 2009 at 8:37 pm
I love honey too.A very nice article maam.
On April 1, 2009 at 12:41 am
It makes me sad that they lives such short lives but I understand that it’s relative.
Post Comment