Biology lesson “Postembryonic development of organisms” (grade 9)

There are things, without knowing which, the beekeeper will be doomed to losses, while for others their apiary will bring profit. These things include everything that concerns the honey bee. In beekeeping, it is important to understand the needs of your bees. To do this, you need to know the anatomy of the honey bee, its nutritional needs, vision characteristics, development of young individuals and how long they live. Let's find out about everything in order.

Description and characteristics of the honey bee

The body of this insect from the bee family is divided into three parts - the head, chest and abdomen. The abdomen of female bees is divided into 6 joints, and in males - into 7. The animal rests on the exoskeleton surrounding its body - the cuticle, which connects all the body parts into one. The body on top has hairs that help with touch and also protect against dirt from the external environment. The insect's head has an internal skeleton called the tentorium, consisting of dense chitinous beams.

On top of the head there is a pair of antennae, consisting of 11 joints of the same length, and in males (drones) - of 12. Bees have a complex oral apparatus. The mouth in front is covered with a narrow strip of chitin - the upper lip. The lower lip and a pair of mandibles (maxillae) make up the proboscis, which is visible only during suction. At its end there is a small spoon that collects nectar that is inaccessible to the suction tube.

On the sides of the mouth are the upper jaws (mandibles, or mandibles), which also serve as hands. These insects go through a full development cycle, and this type involves passing through four stages - egg, larva, pupa and adult insect. According to scientific classification, insects belong to the Animal Kingdom. So honey bees living in hives are domestic animals, but do not play the same role in human life as, for example, cats and dogs, and are no different from wild ones.

There are 30 breeds of the honey bee species, which differ from each other in color and size, behavior and resistance to different climatic conditions. Typically, varieties of this insect have a gray color or characteristic yellow stripes.

Did you know? The honey bee is native to Asia, where they appeared about 300 million years ago and spread throughout Eurasia and Africa. They were brought to Australia and the American continent by Europeans.

Biology

The list of bee products is not limited to honey and wax. This also includes propolis, royal jelly, bee venom, bee bread and pollen. In addition, the honey bee is a natural pollinator of plants, which is why it occupies one of the key positions in the ecological chain.

It is worth clarifying that bees belong to the order Hymenoptera, a class of insects, a phylum of arthropods in the animal kingdom. They have existed on earth for several hundred thousand years, and without them it is difficult to imagine a functioning ecosystem of the planet. Let's study its structure in more detail.

Structure and morphology

The body structure divides the insect into three segments: head, thorax and abdomen. The arthropod's external skeleton, called the cuticle, is covered with hair, which has several functions. Firstly, it is a kind of organ of touch, and secondly, they serve to cleanse the body of impurities.

Head

The head is the seat of other sensory sensors. A bee actually has five eyes: two large and three small. Multiple facets form large eyes, which are located on the sides of the head. They play the role of an organ of near vision and poorly distinguish objects in the distance. In order to see well into the distance, the insect has small eyes, which are located between the large ones, in the middle of the head. Another sensory organ is the antennae. Their structure consists of many segments, and to be more precise, the working individual has eleven of them, exactly like the uterus. Drones have one more element. The oral cavity is represented by the upper and lower lips, forming the proboscis, as well as two jaws.

It is also worth noting that in addition to the external chitinous skeleton, there is also an internal one, called the tentorium. It provides special strength to the head part of the body. It is around it that the muscles necessary for rotating the head, as well as manipulating the jaws and proboscis, connect.

Breast

The thoracic region is the connecting link between the other two parts of the body. Essentially, it is a bundle of muscle mass. In addition, it is on it that the spiracles, legs and wings are located. In total, the bee has three pairs of legs, and all of them are arranged in such a way as to reliably hold the insect at different declination angles. There are two pairs of wings, and they are so fragile that a simple human touch on them can irreversibly damage them.

Abdomen

The abdomen is the seat of the bee's internal organs. Almost the entire respiratory and digestive systems, a five-chambered heart and a sting are located there.

Development

The entire life cycle of this insect is divided into four full development cycles. And the biology of the honey bee is such that the arthropod spends half of its time in a state incapable of independent movement and feeding. By and large, they are divided into only two stages: embryonic and postembryonic.

Egg stage

The first begins as soon as the egg is fertilized and ends with the hatching of the larva. The rest of the time is the second stage. Nevertheless, many scientists refute this method of dividing cycles and adhere to the original one.

The egg stage is not marked with anything interesting. The embryo inside develops in just three days under normal temperature conditions. Before hatching, the shell becomes transparent enough that the insect inside can be seen.

Larval stage

The next stage in the life of an arthropod is the larval stage. She has about two-thirds of her total weight in fat, although it is only a tenth of a milligram. If the uterus develops from it, then the workers fill the bottom of the cell in which the larva is located with royal jelly, the volume of which is five times greater than the larva itself. This substance greatly accelerates the development process of the insect. The same individuals that will become workers and drones are fed honey and beebread. The process of its growth is accompanied by periodic molting. And as soon as the supply of nutrients inside the body becomes sufficient, it pupates. On average, this takes about a week.

Pupa stage

In the pupa state, it takes from six to ten days until a full-fledged bee hatches from it. But the final stage of life in insects is very different, depending on the sex. Workers in favorable conditions live on average for about two months, as do drones. But with intensive work, this figure for the former is reduced by half. Queens can survive for several years, but if they are not warmed by other bees and also provided with additional food, they will not be able to survive even a couple of days. It should be noted that in total it takes from two and a half to three weeks to develop into a working individual.

The work of the body and individual organs

Let us consider the features of the functioning of the organs of the honey bee.

Digestive system

Three sections are involved in the digestion of food. The first consists of the pharynx, esophagus and honey goiter. This goiter expands 3–4 times when nectar or honey enters and, using its muscles, can squeeze nectar (honey) out through the proboscis. The main process of digestion occurs in the midgut (second section).

After it, everything goes to the third section (small and large intestine). The large intestine (rectum) has considerable capacity and accumulates undigested food, which is preserved for a long time due to the enzyme catalase, which does not allow it to decompose.

Emptying for the winter stops and occurs for the first time during the first flight in the spring. Bee droppings are not used by humans not only because they are difficult to collect, but also because they may contain infectious agents. Sometimes beekeeping products such as dead bees and propolis are mistakenly called droppings.

Respiratory system

When you inhale, air enters the holes in the cuticle (spiracles) on the chest (3 pairs) and abdomen (6 pairs). They contain hairs that clean the incoming air from small dust particles. From the spiracles the air goes into paired sacs located in the head, chest and abdomen. From these, through the trachea, it reaches all organs of the body.

Organs of movement

Honey bees have two pairs of wings - front (much larger) and rear: they are presented in the form of thin transparent plates with veins. In flight, both pairs of wings form one plane, connecting to each other through 17–28 hooks (hamulus), located in front of the hind wings. When landing, they separate and the bee's wings fold.

Did you know? Honey bees can reach speeds of up to 65 km/h (light) and fly up to 4 km from their place of residence. After the bribe, their speed decreases to 20–30 km/h.

Sense organs

The bee has mosaic vision. The compound eyes of females may include 3–4 thousand ocelli (in the queen) or 4–5 thousand ocelli (in worker bees). In males their number reaches 7–10 thousand. There are 3 pairs of simple eyes on the crown. Honeybees see yellow and blue, but do not notice red. They can see ultraviolet and polarized light, which helps them navigate if the sun is hidden behind clouds.

An interesting fact is also that bees do not have hearing organs in the usual sense, but they hear quite well with their antennae and legs. The antennae also have receptors with which the animal can determine humidity, temperature, and carbon dioxide levels. The antennae are also organs of smell. The sense of touch occurs through hairs located on the surface of the body. Taste buds are located in the pharynx, antennae, and paws.

Venom glands

On the back of the abdomen there are two poisonous glands with a container for poison and a sting 2 mm long and only 0.1 mm thick. The sting is jagged, as a result of which it gets stuck in the skin of the bee stung and leads to the latter’s death. When a bite occurs, 0.3–0.8 mm of bee venom is injected. It is colorless and has a bitter taste and a multicomponent composition.

Important! The lethal dose for an adult is 2 g. This is 500–1000 bee stings.

Body structure

The basis of a bee's body is its exoskeleton; it connects three main parts: the head, thorax and abdomen. The body parts are connected by strong but very light elastic membranes.

In the upper section there are:

• antennae;
• mouth;
• unique eye structure.

In the chest there are two rows of wings with membranes.

A clear example of the body structure of any honey bee

Six legs are attached to the abdomen. The bee is covered with thin hairs, which not only protect from external influences, but also help to navigate in space.

Organs of movement

The bee has wings and legs that allow it to fly and crawl quite quickly.

Wings with membranes - in two rows. As soon as the bee begins to fly, the wings interlock with each other, which allows them to lift a fairly heavy body into the air.

Six legs are located on the abdomen.

A special feature of the legs is the presence of special scrapers; with them the insect carefully cleans pollen from the legs when it flies from flower to flower or brings nectar to the hive.

Sense organs

Bees have organs of touch, smell, taste and vision.

The honey bee has a very sophisticated system of facet vision. This system allows the insect to recognize 5 colors, plant shapes, inspect a large area during the flight and distinguish the outlines of flowers even in the absence of bright sun.

There are no ears in the usual sense, but bees can hear - insects have special auditory openings on their bodies

The antennae play an important role in the orientation process - with them the bee feels the space inside the dark hive, determines the temperature and monitors the humidity.

There are unusual endings in the mouth - they allow honey insects to determine the quality and taste of nectar.

It is curious that taste can be recognized by special endings located not only in the mouth (throat), but also on the proboscis, thin antennae and even on the paws!

Respiratory system

The respiratory system is impressive - the insect must receive enough oxygen both in flight and in conditions of limited air flow in the hive.

The system consists of paired stomata on the body:

• 6 on the chest;
• 12 – on the abdomen.

The air is purified through special hairs, then fills special bubbles resembling lungs and spreads throughout the body. The exhaust air is exhaled through the third pair of holes in the thoracic region.

Digestive system

The digestive system of an insect consists of three sections. The first includes:

• oral cavity;
• esophagus;
• special bag for honey.

The honey sac or honey crop of a bee is located inside, near the hind pair of legs.
The middle section contains the stomach, and the lower section contains the intestines. The glands - salivary and subpharyngeal - not only help digest food, but also turn nectar into honey.

Life cycle duration and reproduction

Bee colonies are social colonies in which each member does his own job. Different members of a bee family have different life expectancies, depending on several factors.

Uterus

This is the only full-fledged female in the nest, capable of reproduction. Her genitals are superbly developed - the ovaries have about 180–200 oviducts, in which eggs are born. The ovaries have a pair of oviducts, which connect into one, connected by the spermatic canal to the spermatic receptacle. After mating with males (drones), their sperm arrives and is stored in the seminal receptacle for the entire life of the uterus. Mating usually occurs on the 7th–10th day of the uterus’ life.

First, starting from 3–5 days after birth, she makes familiarization flights. Then, choosing a fine day, she makes mating flights with drones and mates with several males. After 2–3 days, she lays eggs measuring 1.5–1.6 mm in honeycomb cells prepared by other bees. During this period, worker bees provide her with intensive nutrition and thereby regulate the laying of eggs.

Drones emerge from unfertilized eggs, and females from fertilized eggs. After 3 days, larvae emerge from the eggs, which are fed by worker bees with milk for the first 3 days, and with a mixture of honey and beebread for the next 3 days. Then the honeycombs with the larvae are sealed, where they spin a cocoon for themselves within a day, having previously emptied themselves in the corner of the cell.

In 12 days, the larva transforms into a full-fledged bee, after which the insect gnaws its way to freedom. In total, 21 days pass from the laying of eggs to the birth of a fully formed individual, but the queens are formed faster - in 16 days. Bees, if necessary, can breed a new queen from any 1- or 2-day-old larva. The uterus has larger dimensions (18–25 mm) and short wings in comparison with the body, as well as a slightly shorter proboscis (3.5 mm).

Important! Queens can lay drone eggs due to old age or damage to the oviduct. This situation leads to the death of the bee colony, so beekeepers get rid of the drone queen.

She is most fertile in the first 2 years of life, and then egg production declines. The queens themselves live on average up to 5 years, but can reach the age of 8 years. Reproduction of the queen can be carried out in two forms - natural (swarming) and artificial, for which different methods are used (layering, division of families and raids on the queen).

Worker bees

The basis of any bee colony is made up of worker bees. In large families there can be up to 20–30 thousand individuals in winter and up to 80 thousand individuals in summer. These are females with underdeveloped reproductive organs. Worker bees take care of the offspring, care for the queen, build, clean and guard the nest, prepare honeycomb cells and seal them, and bring prey.

Young (hive) bees work in the hive, not strong enough to fly for a bribe. Individuals aged 15–18 days who have grown up and gained strength begin to actively collect pollen and nectar, water and glue. Such individuals are called flying. The average life expectancy of a worker bee during the bribe period is 30–40 days.

However, if the life cycle occurs during the cold season, then these periods are extended, since in winter there is less work in the hive. How long a honey bee lives is affected by the intensity of its work. The more it works, the shorter its life cycle. Bees born in the fall or in the absence of brood can live up to 12 months.

Drones

Males exist to inseminate the queen. They are somewhat larger than worker bees, but they lack a sting and a shorter proboscis, which makes them unable to work. Drones are 15–17 mm long and have a body weight of 0.2 g. They develop into adults from an egg in 24 days. Sexual maturity is reached by males no earlier than the 12th day of life. In warm weather, they mate with the uterus, after which they die, leaving part of their genital organs in it.

Did you know? Africanized bee

,
or killer bee, which is highly aggressive, also belongs to honey bees.
It was bred by accident during experiments in Brazil in 1956. Drones circling around the queen to fertilize her distract the attention of birds feeding on bees. Sometimes drones change their family for another, but in the winter they are expelled from any nest and they die. In general, the lifespan of males strongly depends on the presence of a queen in the family and its readiness for mating. Typically their lifespan ranges from 2 weeks to 6 months.

Structure and development

In families, there are three types of individuals that do their part in building and ensuring the normal functioning of the nest. These are queens, drones and workers.

One family can have only one queen. A new mother is raised if the old one has become weak and can no longer produce offspring. When a new female appears, the swarm simply separates, flying away to nest in another place.

A sign for a beekeeper of an imminent replacement of the female can be the location of the queen cell at 2/3 of the height of the honeycomb. A sign of close swarming of the family is the location of the queen cells on the lower frames. The average lifespan of a queen is 2-3 years. Considering how long a bee lives, the queen bee is very productive.

Nurses look after the larvae. They clean the hive and feed the larvae, which require food every minute. Special larvae are laid in separate cells and fed especially carefully. New females grow from them, giving continuation of the family.

There are workers in all populations; they do all the hard work. They build honeycombs, prepare food, collect pollen and water, and bring prey. Their important function is to protect the nest or restore order. First, young individuals are engaged in feeding the larvae or cleaning the cells. From the 10th day of life, workers produce honey, receiving it from collectors and distributing it among cells. From the 20th day, the young bee will already perform security functions. Only from the 22nd day of life are workers allowed to collect nectar. The active life period of any honey plant population is 6-7 weeks, after which the individual completely wears out and dies.

Among the pathologies that occur in domestic populations, beekeeping identifies arrhenotokia, chemical or honeydew intoxication.

Arrhenotoky or arrhenotoky parthenogenesis is virgin reproduction. The eggs only grow into males or drones if they are not fertilized in time. Scientists studying the characteristics of beekeeping cannot understand the reasons causing this anomaly, and therefore cannot give recommendations to prevent this phenomenon.

Having noticed arrhenotokia, the beekeeper should not worry. Smart insects will independently regulate the number of drones in their family. The workers will simply drive out the extra drones and they will die from lack of food.

To increase immunity to various infections and diseases, the beekeeper can use a solution of blue iodine: per 1 liter of water - tbsp. l.

Nest structure

The basis of the bee nest is made up of double-sided honeycombs 24–25 mm thick with hexagonal cells. A distance of 10–12 mm is left between them for movement.

The honeycombs themselves are polished with propolis and are divided into the following types:

1. Bees. In such honeycombs, worker bees are raised and food for them (honey and beebread) is stored. On average, their width is 5.42 mm and their depth is 11–12 mm.
2. Drones. The queen lays unfertilized eggs in them to hatch males or store honey. The average width of such a cell is 6.5 mm.
3. Queen cells. As a rule, they are built separately from the cells, but adjacent to them.
4. Transitional. They have an irregular shape and are located in the transition from bee to drone combs, along the edges of frames or where damage has been patched.
5. Honey. They are located at the top of the honeycomb and have an elongated shape with an upward slope of 13° to prevent honey leakage.

The cracks in the nest are sealed with propolis (for small holes) or barrier combs.
Did you know? Russian legislation does not regulate the ownership of the swarm in any way. In ancient Rome, a swarm of bees was the property of the owner as long as he pursued it. If the owner did not do this, then anyone could take the swarming bees.

Nest

A colony of honey-bearing bees in a hive consists of 10,000-50,000 individuals, sometimes this figure grows to 100,000 worker bees thanks to the queen. Worker bees build nests in their houses, without which they would not have life. It is in the nests that pollen, nectar, honey are stored, brood grows, etc.

In the center of the nest (occupied by the brood), the optimal temperature is always maintained, which is necessary for the proper development of the eggs. The stronger the bee colony, and the larger the volume of the nest it occupies, the greater the temperature difference between the edges and the center.

Around the nest there are honeycombs built of wax; the wax is secreted from the wax glands of the bee, which over time hardens in the form of plates. Bees spend their entire lives between the plates (combs). A healthy family's nest is clean, dry and smells pleasant.

The honeycomb has 3 compartments in the form of cells for different processes:

1. Bees , which serve to breed worker bees. Bee bread and honey are also stored there.
2. Drone cells, in which drones grow, are where honey is stored.
3. Queen cells are temporary cells that worker bees build to hatch a queen. Once the process is completed, the bees gnaw them off.

Swarming and distribution in nature

The queen produces a special uterine substance for the bees, which is passed on to them. When there are many residents in the nest, due to the intensive laying of eggs by the queen, there is not enough of it, and the insects become restless. First, they begin to prepare for swarming - they make a cell for a new queen, and the old one begins to be limited in reproduction, they stop building honeycombs, and a complete or incomplete cessation of collecting pollen and nectar occurs.

Then, when the queen cells are sealed, a natural separation occurs when the old queen, accompanied by some of the bees and drones, flies off to build a new nest in a suitable place. First, the queen, along with her escort, is grafted onto a tree branch and can remain there from several hours to several days until scout bees arrive and have found a place for a new nest - a hollow, cave or crevice. Such swarming can be repeated, and the next time the swarm is led by a young queen.

Did you know? To collect 1 kg of honey, worker bees need to visit 19 million flowers. Each bee can collect nectar from 7 thousand flowers per day.

Behavior in the apiary and in the wild

The behavior of bees both in nature and in the apiary is almost identical.

In the spring, as soon as it gets warmer, a rapid process of production of young individuals begins. Bees fly out into the air, collect nectar from primroses - dandelions, flowering trees (apple, cherry). The hive is preparing to swarm - some of the bees will leave it with a new queen.

As soon as the new swarm separates and stops not far from the old one, an experienced beekeeper catches it and places it in a new, specially prepared hive. This is how the number of honey-bearing families grows, storing nectar for the winter both for themselves and for humans.

Summer is a time of active honey collection. Honey collection begins (depending on the region where the apiary is located) from May or mid-June, and continues until late autumn, while autumn flowers bloom.

In autumn, all bees actively store honey, insulate their houses, and prepare for winter. The beekeeper needs to ensure that the bees are healthy during this period and that all debris is removed from the hives. If the year is dry or cold, the insects must be fed with sugar or syrup, otherwise the population will die.

Common breeds

Let's look at the characteristics of the most famous European breeds for beekeeping:

1. Gray mountain Caucasian. It has a gray-silver color, weak swarming, is not aggressive, but protects the hive well. It has excellent performance and collects a lot of honey even from poor honey plants. It does not have the best resistance to disease and frost; representatives can steal honey.

2. Ukrainian steppe. They winter well, are very hardworking and have highly productive queens. They are prone to swarming, moderately aggressive, and do not accept other queens well. They are gray in color, but there are individuals with three yellow stripes.

3. Karpatskaya (karpatka).

It is distinguished by a peaceful disposition, high efficiency, tolerates winters well and is resistant to diseases. Has no tendency to swarm. Collects enough honey even from poor honey plants and easily switches from one type of plant to another. Has a gray color.

4. Krainskaya (karnika). Peaceful, does not swarm, productive. Tolerates cold and heat well. Painted in gray-silver tones.

5. Buckfast. Hybrid based on the Italian bee. The breed is peaceful, productive, resistant to diseases, not prone to swarming, and is characterized by faster development. It has a yellow-brown color.

6. Italian. A peaceful and highly productive breed with average agility. She has the most egg-laying uteruses. It is better to breed in a southern climate, since the breed does not winter well.
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7. Central Russian. It winters well, has good immunity, endurance and performance. Queens are distinguished by high egg production. The breed has a tendency to swarm. This bee prefers to collect nectar from one type of plant, but if necessary, it can collect nectar from other flowers. Does not steal honey, but is aggressive towards the beekeeper. It has a dark gray color and a larger size.

How do domestic honey plants differ from wild ones?

Let's figure out how to distinguish a honey bee, recognize whether the individual in front of you is domestic or wild.

Wild individuals are slightly smaller in size and less brightly colored

They should not attract attention to themselves, since, unlike domestic specimens, there is no one to protect them, so they are very aggressive

Wild bees are more resilient, they cover greater distances in search of nectar, and produce more honey. Their body is more resistant to disease and can survive frosts down to minus 50 °C.

Wild swarms settle and organize hives mainly in tree hollows or rock crevices. They build their nests vertically, using wax as “cement”. Since there are no frames in their nests, the shape of the honeycombs is tongue-like.

Bees are hard workers worthy of respect; they fly great distances to collect and deliver nectar to the hive. Attentive and careful attitude towards them will pay off with a good supply of useful product.

Maintenance and care

To successfully breed bees to obtain bee products, you need to properly install the hives and provide the insects with proper care.

Hive location

To choose the right place for an apiary, you must adhere to the following rules:

1. The place should be quiet and protected from gusts of wind, as well as direct rays of the sun.
2. Evidence should be placed with a slope towards the south to ensure sufficient lighting.
3. The apiary is located away from large bodies of water, highways, farms, and industrial facilities.
4. There should be enough nectar-producing vegetation around the apiary, with different flowering times. If there is no such place, then the evidence will have to be moved to flowering places.
5. The apiary and the area around it - for collecting nectar, this is a radius of 2-3 km, must be without persistent foci of diseases.

Did you know? It has been noted that the Central Russian breed of honey bees secretes the most useful substances into honey.

Arrangement

Evidence can be purchased, or you can make it yourself from soft wood. An important point is to coat the bee houses with a special varnish paint, which will protect well from moisture and enable the bee to quickly locate its home. To do this, you need to choose yellow, blue and green colors.

To maintain the apiary, you must purchase the following tools:

• workwear;
• face mesh;
• smoker;
• foundation, which is inserted into the frame - without it you will get a lot of defective cells;
• special knife;
• caps and cells;
• spur;
• chisel;
• feeders and sugar for syrup (needed for feeding);
• roevnya - a box for catching bees;
• ice rink.

Care depending on the time of year

Caring for bees and apiaries largely depends on seasonality:

1. In the spring. As soon as it becomes warm outside (+8°C), the evidence is transferred to fresh air and families are transplanted with intact frames into new houses. At the same time, a printout of the honey frame is made. The evidence must contain at least 8 kg of honey. Old hives are repaired, cleaned and disinfected. If the apiary is located in a place where bribes are not observed in the spring, then after 30 days it is necessary to add beebread and honey. Care should be taken to insulate the evidence (seal the joints, cover).
2. In summer. They control the swarming process and take only the first swarm from the hive, collecting it using a swarmer and a scoop. Individuals who have not expressed a desire to move to the swarm are driven there with smoke, blowing it in the desired direction. If necessary, excess queens are removed from the swarm or replanted if she could not be caught. Filled stores are cleaned and put back so that the bees drain the frames. The shops should be removed at the end of August.
3. In autumn. On the eve of wintering, it is necessary to check the quality and quantity of honey for the presence of honeydew. To do this, they take samples and conduct laboratory tests or try to determine it themselves. If honeydew is available, honey is removed from the combs and stored for use as feed in the spring. In place of the frame, put a frame with good honey or dry food. You can use sugar syrup as a top dressing. In the fall, old queens should be replaced with new ones. They make nests for the winter - on honey, partly on honey or on sugar syrup enriched with vitamins. They insulate the evidence, treat it against varroa and prepare it for wintering.
4. In winter. Keep the temperature in the wintering place not lower than 0°С…+4°С. If it is higher, then you need to increase the ventilation of the room. The optimal humidity in it should be 80%, and it itself should always be dark. It is necessary to provide wintering bees with peace, absence of rodents, and clean the entrances once every 30 days with wire. Periodically inspect the deadwood for the presence of diseases and pests.

Important! You definitely need to pay attention to the noise in the houses - when everything is normal, then the noise is muffled, but if it is increased, then this indicates dryness in the room or crystallization of honey. The absence of sounds signals the lack of food and starvation of insects.

Reproduction

The uterus is responsible for reproduction. In one season, she lays several tens of thousands of eggs, filling the nest with young, able-bodied workers. Once a year, the queen bee leaves her hive to mate with a drone, then returns to the colony and continues to lay new larvae. The average lifespan of a female is influenced by the level and duration of her egg production.

Drones spend their entire lives trying to find a queen bee for fertilization. They look larger and thicker than ordinary workers, but do not have a sting. Drones serve to fertilize queens. After mating they always die.

In beekeeping, there are different seasons that are associated with the seasons. During each season, the families require different care and proper feeding. Experienced beekeepers know the basic principles of caring for each population, and also have several secret ways to help the family cope with problems.

• In the spring, the beekeeper begins to move the hives from the winter hut to the street. The families are transplanted into new clean hives. A new frame with flower honey is placed in the treated beehive. A frame with brood is installed nearby. The beekeeper then transfers the queen and workers. If there is less than 8 kg in the hive. honey, the beekeeper needs to replenish the supply with unopened honey frames.

• Summer starts in June. During the honey collection period, the beekeeper needs to closely monitor the normal swarming of colonies. Before the separation and departure of the swarm, there is noise, disturbance and activity inside the hives. After the queen flies out, the swarm settles around her. It is necessary to calmly collect the new swarm with light movements into a separate container. First you need to quickly catch the queen, then the swarm itself will fly after her and sit next to her. You can force insects into a new hive with a smoker. If there are several queens, the bees will still make a lot of noise and worry. Then you need to find and remove all the extra queens, leaving one.

• In the fall, the beekeeper needs to check the readiness of his bees for winter. The quality and quantity of winter supplies in the hives must be checked. During the dry season, hives can be filled with honeydew, which is poisonous. This product is distinguished by its dark color and flakes that appear when dissolved in water. The beekeeper must replace the honeydew product with flower or sugar fertilizer.

• For the winter, insects are left with the required amount of natural food or fed with sugar syrup. 5 liters are given per family. syrup, ratio: 1.5 kg of sugar per liter of water. Each hive can be divided in half to better maintain the desired temperature during wintering. There is a table for caring for bees at different times. It can be used as a benefit to provide wards with proper care and save the population from extinction or disease. It is necessary to know which species are most suitable for a particular climate and the characteristics of their breeding.

What are the benefits of honey bees?

First of all, these insects produce honey, which is used for consumption in food, medicine, and cosmetology. When keeping bees, they also obtain bee bread, royal jelly, propolis, wax, and bee venom. All bee products are natural antibiotics used for medical purposes. A very important point is the fact that bees actively participate in the pollination of entomophilous plants, which is necessary to obtain a good harvest and seeds.

Benefits of Honey Bees

The main importance of honey bees for humans is in their production of:

• honey;
• wax;
• propolis;
• pollen;
• royal jelly.

These products are used in medicine, cosmetics industry, and food production.

In addition, bees are one of the best pollinators among insects. If the hives are located near fields with buckwheat, sunflowers or orchards, the yield can increase several times.

An apiary located near commercial crops is a guarantee of high yields

Productivity increases - human well-being increases, the green cover of the planet grows, the diversity of plant species does not decrease. Plants enrich the air with oxygen and purify the air - that is, bees make a significant contribution to the ecological stability of the Earth.

Diseases and their prevention

Let's look at common diseases of honey bees:

1. American Foulbrood - this infectious disease kills larvae in cells sealed by bees. The larvae rot, forming a dark mass that smells like glue.

2. Ascospherosis (lime brood) - a fungal disease that destroys larvae. After death, they become like solid white formations. If larvae in sealed cells are affected, whitish mold appears.

3. European Foulbrood - affects larvae. The symptoms are the same as with American foulbrood.

4. Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV) causes a sharp decrease in immune function, against which many other infections occur. May cause colony destruction.
5. Sacbrood is a quarantine infection that primarily affects brood. After death, the larvae turn into a shell filled with granular liquid, and then, when dry, into crusts.

6. Acarapidosis. The disease is caused by a tick - this parasite infects the spiracles where it lays eggs, so the second name for acarapidosis is tracheal mite.

7. Braulez. The disease is caused by a bee louse (or wingless brawl fly). It affects adults. The presence of such parasites leads to exhaustion of bees, which significantly reduces egg laying and insect productivity.

8. Varroatosis. The most common disease in honey bees is caused by Varroa mites. This parasite infects adults, as well as larvae and pupae. Its activity leads to a general weakening of bees and a decrease in immunity. Ticks also carry some contagious diseases.

9. Nosema. The disease appears only in adult bees. This disease is caused by the parasite Nosema apis. Nosema usually occurs in late winter or early spring and manifests itself in the form of diarrhea in insects, which heavily contaminates honeycombs and evidence.

10. Cold. Occurs due to hypothermia of the nest, which leads to the death of the brood.
11. Starvation. Due to lack of food, bees become exhausted, and this can cause death. Fasting can be carbohydrate (lack of honey) and protein (lack of bee bread).
12. Chemical toxicosis is caused by pesticides that are used to control insect pests in order to protect plantings. Toxic elements enter the bees along with their food.
13. Honeydew toxicosis. Occurs due to poisoning - ingestion of honeydew honey.
14. Pollen toxicosis - mainly affects worker bees due to poisoning with nectar from poisonous plant crops.

Find out in more detail how to properly treat bees with Bipin.

To prevent the occurrence of all these troubles, experienced beekeepers recommend the following prevention:

• hives must be well insulated and ventilated;
• periodically inspect, tune and replace nesting cells;
• be sure to disinfect honeycombs, equipment and buildings in the apiary;
• after the bribe, carry out the growth of young bees in order to improve the colony;
• when expanding families, it is necessary to carry out additional insulation;
• It is important to provide bees with good quality food in the required quantities;
• carry out centralized pumping of honey, as well as melting of wax;
• arrange the wintering area well;
• When purchasing, it is better to choose frost-resistant bee species;
• choose strong families of bees, exclude closely related relationships that reduce the vitality of insects;
• assess the nectar collection site for the presence of poisonous vegetation. If such plants are identified, take measures to destroy them;
• during the cold season, be sure to include bee bread in your food;
• inspect bees for timely diagnosis of the onset of the disease - this will help to take the necessary measures in a timely manner;
• do sanitation to eliminate odors, destroy insect pests, pathogens and carriers of diseases, and rodents.

Honey bees living in a hive are classified as domestic animals, but are essentially no different from their wild relatives. However, this does not mean that they do not need to be looked after - in order to preserve families and increase the yield of honey, they simply need care.

Swarming

Bee colonies swarm around April or May, when the weather warms up. Thus, they breed in natural conditions. Families in a small room swarm much more often than in large and spacious ones.

As long as the brood is growing well and the worker bees are busy feeding the larvae, there will be no swarming. It comes at a time when there are a lot of bees.

If the insects have enough nutrients in their bodies and their physiology does not change, swarming will not occur.

Some methods to prevent swarming:

• moving insects to a cool place where they will expend a lot of energy;
• load the bees with feeding the brood;
• pour a large amount of sugar syrup for processing;
• transfer bees to intensive summer work.

By adopting methods, you can delay swarming “for later” or prevent it altogether. Excess nutrients in the body is also not good; swarming will definitely begin.

As soon as the bees clog the first queen cells, some of the bees fly out of the hive with the old queen. If the weather is bad, the flight may be delayed for several days.

Long before departure, worker bees fly out in search of a new place of residence; they look for boxes, lightweight logs that beekeepers specially hang for the departed herd.

After swarming, bees work much better than ordinary colonies. This is due to the fact that the swarm contains mainly young bees, who either did nothing in the old nest or simply helped feed the larvae.

The young animals begin to work well in the construction of combs, in collecting honey, in feeding the larvae and preserving honey.

Economic importance

Since ancient times, people have used the experience of their observations about nature for their own benefit; they have learned to accept generous gifts from it, in the form of medicinal herbs and berries. Honey is considered one of the most valuable gifts. Firstly, many centuries ago it was the only sweet that people could afford. They also learned to use propolis, beeswax, and royal jelly in treatment.

Eastern apiary.

Human curiosity about the bee has not waned to this day, thanks to which it has taken an honorable place in the list of insects whose genome is known and studied by scientists, and is one of the main and useful domestic animals.

A honey bee collects pollen.

A family of honey bees can collect up to 34 kilograms of honey per season. And bee venom is a unique creation of nature, has excellent medicinal qualities, and does not freeze at a temperature of -113 degrees.

There are countless by-products from bee production.

Honey is a valuable product of honey bees.

A family of honey bees lives as a single, well-coordinated mechanism. All life and work in the hive is subject to special rules. The main thing in the family is the uterus; it controls and regulates the production of offspring. If the queen cannot cope with her duties and the bees are dissatisfied with the head of the hive, they can feed her a replacement, and this is where the queen can use her reusable sting; she will kill her rivals in order to avoid competition. If, for some reason, the queen misses the dangerous moment and young queens appear in the hive, this will certainly lead to swarming and the disintegration of the family. This process is clearly controlled by beekeepers: by opening the honeycombs with royal jelly, they stock up on the most valuable nectar and avoid the disintegration of the family. This is the law of the hive - one family, one queen.

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Lifestyle

The life cycle of honey bees can be divided into active and inactive periods of life. The latter is required so that the bees protect themselves during the cold season.

During the active period in spring, bees wake up and the process of reproduction and transformation of young animals into full-fledged members of society occurs. After individuals wake up, they need a certain period of time to recuperate. Its final phase is swarming. As soon as the first inflorescences appear, the bees are ready to work. The active period comes to an end only in August.

The inactive period is intended for the self-preservation of individuals. Bees survive cold, which is associated with climatic conditions. During this time, they must collect enough food to survive the winter. Also, the period of self-preservation includes direct preparation for winter, that is, in the future, all work gradually stops, and no energy is wasted. Then comes complete winter calm and anticipation of a new active phase.

The hive is home to the entire bee family, where some insects care for their offspring, while others work. Each family can include approximately 30-50 thousand working individuals. They are the main providers of food, so their performance is very high. They work all day, bringing pollen and nectar to the hive.

A special feature of insects is that they are able to communicate non-verbally with each other. This way they show others where there are more flowers. Actions are carried out through dance. It has been established that if insects are circling in one place, this means that a clearing with flowers is close, and if individuals sway from side to side, then flowering plants are located very far away. Bees buzz loudly if there is a lot of nectar, and a weak buzz indicates a small amount of product.

Honey bees are amazing insects that, thanks to their hard work and unusual structure, are capable of producing large amounts of honey. Breeding honey bees is a difficult but promising activity.

Distinctive characteristics of bee varieties

The breed characteristics of bees are formed over millions of years of evolution. Vital features were developed according to climatic conditions, food sources existing in a certain area, and features of the natural landscape for camouflage and protection.

An important characteristic of insects is regional affiliation. It is based on such characteristics as color and structural features of the proboscis. Light-colored insects are adapted to the southern climate because they do not overheat in the sun. Gray and black colors are typical for regions with harsh climates.

The length of the insects' proboscis affects their feeding habits. Bees with a proboscis from 6.8 to 7.5 mm are adapted to forbs. A shorter proboscis works better in monocultures.

Possible diseases

In bees, a distinction is made between contagious and non-contagious diseases.

A bee can get sick from contagious diseases through contact with other sick bees; the most common ones include:

• acarapitosis;
• meleosis;
• nosematosis

There may be parasites on the bee's body that cause other diseases, such as varroa. Some contagious diseases can kill an entire swarm, so the beekeeper must closely monitor their health.

Non-contagious diseases can appear due to improper feeding of bees.

Proper nutrition is very important for honey bees, because if a bee receives all the necessary vitamins, microelements and other useful substances, then its productivity is at a high level.

Non-communicable diseases also include those that occur during the development of embryos. The reason for this may be a cold or the presence of parasites; underdeveloped individuals will emerge from such larvae or the eggs will dry out.