Honey bee: description, lifestyle and significance for humans

The honey bee is one of the most important insects in Russia and the world. At the same time, this is one of those species whose population is too small in relation to the need. The main task of the honey bee is not the production of honey, as its name suggests. First of all, it is responsible for pollinating the flowers of plants that constitute food for people and animals. Without it, losses in the economy would be multi-billion dollar. Why is the honey bee so beneficial? How long does an insect live and where? We will answer these and many other questions in the further part of the article.

flower lover

Transfer is necessary for seeds to form.
pollen from one plant to another .
This process is called pollination.

When bees collect pollen, they typically visit many flowers of the same plant species in succession.

At the same time, pollen sticks to the numerous hairs of their body, which they transfer from flower to flower.

What does a honey bee look like?

It belongs to the hymenoptera insects of the phylum arthropods. It has two pairs of wings with a membrane, thanks to which it stays in the air. On the third pair of legs, the honey bee has containers (baskets) designed to transport pollen. Bees have a defensive organ - a sting, which in a dangerous situation is stuck into the body of a potential aggressor, injecting poison. The sting is located at the end of the insect's abdomen. Drones, that is, male bees, do not have a stinger. Bee venom is not dangerous for a healthy person, provided there is no allergy. In other cases, a bee sting ends only with swelling.

Territorial distribution

When it comes to occurrence, the honey bee is popular under any latitude. If initially these insects were distributed throughout Europe, Western Asia and North Africa, today their various species are found on all continents.

The honey bee is one of the world's most important pollinating insects. Because of the transport of pollen, it is highly valued economically and naturally, providing great benefits to plants and most trees. It is believed that pollination of various plants by bees can double crop productivity. Every year, in Russia alone, such a bee, as a result of pollination, increases the harvest by several billion rubles.

Common mother

The life of bees takes place in colonies, and each of these colonies (living in one hive) has one single mother - the queen bee.

Throughout the summer, the queen bee lays up to 20 thousand eggs daily.

She carefully places each egg in one of the wax cells specially prepared for this purpose.

After 3 days, a small larva emerges from the egg. Whatever the bee later becomes - a worker, a queen or a drone, the life of a bee begins with a tiny egg.

We drive away the varroa mite by taking a break in egg laying and increase the lifespan of queens

It is the third generation of bees obtained during the season that is distinguished by maximum strength, vitality and increased activity of foragers. The first two generations provide the third to the main bribe. A break between spring and summer oviposition of 1–2 months deprives the varroa mite of a source of food and a breeding site, since the lifespan of a female varroa ranges from 16 to 70 days, a male – up to 20.

Advantages of broodless technology:

obtaining higher quality and biochemically complete honey in large volumes from physiologically mature foragers;
biological eradication of varroa mite;
extending the life of the queen and the bees themselves;
prolonging the service life of honeycomb frames and reducing the cost of feed resources for wax production;
improving the productivity and vitality of wintering individuals, which are fed a maximum of 50 days before the end of flight.

The myth that flight activity wears out bees faster is a paradigm from which it is time to move away. Much greater harm is caused by the tick sucking out the hemolymph.

There are no confirmed studies that bees die more from flight activity.

There are reports that in colonies without brood, a bee lives from 150 days to a year (if the family is provided with beebread or during intensive flowering of pollen bees).

Heir to the throne

The queen lays some of her eggs in especially large cells, the so-called “queen cells”.

Future queens are raised in them, the development of which lasts only 16 days.

The larvae from which the queens emerge feed only on bee milk and become much larger than the workers.

The young queen, the first to emerge from the pupa, immediately kills her potential rivals, since there can only be one queen. The former queen flies away from the hive.

Lifestyle and habitat

The favorite habitats of wild bees are mountain crevices, earthen holes and hollows of old trees. Bees choose places located near bodies of water and effectively protected from harsh weather conditions and wind.

In temperate climates, nests are built high in trees. Having chosen a suitable place to live, they begin to build a honeycomb of hexagonal cells. Each cell has thin walls. The honeycombs are fixed vertically and have an elongated shape. Special frames are adapted for domestic bees, and wild insects build their own honeycombs.

Before the onset of cold weather, the main task of bees is to stock up on provisions and insulate their homes. To do this, they use propolis, which they cover all the cracks with. Then the insects move to the lower part of the nest, where they remain together, periodically changing places.

Interesting fact: the comfortable temperature for bees is 25-36℃. In winter, they maintain a temperature of about 13℃ inside the nest.

In general, wild bees differ from domestic ones only in some behavioral and characteristic traits. For example, they are more aggressive because they have more natural enemies and have to defend their stores. They are also hardier, resistant to cold and disease.

Interesting fact: Why do ants follow each other in a chain?

Diligent people

Bees work throughout the summer.
The life of bees is that they must lay down huge reserves of honey and pollen in order to feed a large bee colony: from forty to eighty thousand bees live in one hive.

Female workers are engaged in different types of activities: in accordance with their age. They build honeycombs, feed larvae, collect nectar and pollen, lay down honey and guard the entrance to the hive.

Himalayan

Himalayan bees
Himalayan hymenoptera bees are distinguished by their bright yellow and black coloration. These bees live in mountainous areas. These insects have a peaceful nature. Honey from Himalayan bees has hallucinogenic properties. This is because there are many rhodogendrones growing in the mountainous areas. Andromedotoxin, which is released by plants during the flowering period, is considered a powerful poison. When it enters the human body in small quantities, it provokes hallucinations.

Unwanted visit

The life of bees is not only about nectar and ambrosia, but also about the struggle for survival.

Sweet honey attracts many gourmets, and therefore predatory insects like ants and wasps often try to penetrate the hive. If the bees notice an invader, they will bite to death.

Large enemy corpses that cannot be removed from the hive are embalmed by bees using propolis to avoid rotting.

What affects life expectancy

In order for insects to have a quality life, beekeepers need to take care of their apiary quite intensively. It is necessary to pay attention to the creation of the following conditions:

Providing high-quality feeding if the number of honey plants is insufficient.
Ensuring proper wintering conditions.
Inspect the family at every time of the year for possible diseases and pests that can intensively weaken the immunity of the entire nest.
Providing the required amount of honey plants - if they are not in the area, then it may be necessary to take out the apiary, providing the required amount of food and collected honey.

The life of bees in a hollow, as well as wasps, is approximately a quarter longer than those that live in hives. The following factors influence how long wild bees live in nature:

There is no human factor - no one takes away food.
It is the lack of selection of reserves that forces insects to work less, and, accordingly, their body wears out less.
In wild individuals, the body's protective immune forces work more efficiently.
The factor where the wasps and wild representatives live also plays a role. They select the most optimal places to reduce negative climatic and weather factors.
Brood is produced in a smaller volume.

Important Steps

The life of bees is short and it is divided into several stages
Throughout the summer, the queen bee lays eggs.

After three days, small larvae appear, which are fed by nurse bees.

The larvae grow quickly and develop into pupae, from which they emerge as worker bees, queen bees, or drones.

The workers first perform various duties inside the hive, and then fly outside it as nectar and pollen collectors.

The life of bees or what happens in the hive during the year!

Birth of bees

All bees from conception to birth go through the same stages of development: egg, larva, pupa. Only the timing of the transition from one stage to another is different.

From the moment the egg is laid, embryonic development begins in it, i.e. cell division.

Fertilization of the egg occurs at the moment it leaves the uterine body. The egg looks like a tiny “piece of white thread.” The average length is about one and a half millimeters, the width is a third of a millimeter. The first day the egg stands upright. On the second day - at an inclination of 4-5 degrees. On the third day, the egg lies at the bottom of the cell.

Based on these characteristics, his age is determined. By this time, the larva emerges from the egg. Nurse bees begin feeding them with Royal Jelly, which is produced in their pharyngeal glands. Queen larvae are especially abundantly supplied with royal jelly.

During the first three days, all larvae develop in the same way. But then the “menu” of the larvae of worker bees and drones changes - they begin to be fed with a honey bee mixture. And the queen larvae continue to be abundantly supplied with Royal Jelly. Due to its high calorie content, the development of future queens is much faster than the development of future bees and drones.

It is estimated that nurse bees visit each larva about 1,300 times per day. And during the entire larval period - about ten thousand times.

The larval period for a worker bee lasts six days, for a drone - seven, and for a queen - five days. During this time, their weight increases compared to the weight of the egg by 1300 times. Four molts occur at this stage.

Then their feeding stops, and the cells are sealed with breathable wax caps. Within 3 days, the larva transforms into a pupa. The pupal stage of the drone lasts 14 days, the worker bee 12 days, and the queen bee only eight days.

In total, the entire development period of a bee is: for a worker bee - 21 days, for a queen - 16 days, for a drone - 24 days.

Bee development time may vary slightly depending on temperature. The optimal temperature near the brood is +34 degrees. When it decreases by at least one degree, the development of the brood is delayed. With significant temperature fluctuations, the brood dies.

Knowing the timing of development at all stages, the beekeeper can calculate the time when the “young animals” emerge. The age of open brood is determined more accurately. Sealed - approximately. Older pupae have lids of a darker tone.

In practice, it is especially important to know the age of the queen cell. If you make a mistake, you can lose both the swarm and the young queens.

Sometimes bees prevent young queens from emerging for some time. This occurs under unfavorable weather conditions when the swarm is unable to leave the hive.

Working in the hive

The life of a worker bee is divided into two periods.

At a young age, she is busy with housework - she is a hive bee. Newborns are weak, inactive, and cannot fly yet. It is not difficult to distinguish young bees from their older sisters - they are gray and fluffy, like hatched chickens.

Young bees gain strength for two or three days, warming the brood with their warmth. Having grown stronger, they join the working rhythm of the family. Prepare the cells for laying eggs: clean and polish them. The larvae are fed with a honey mixture. They take nectar, water and pollen from flying bees and distribute them among the cells. They rebuild the honeycombs, ventilate the hive, etc.

Bees never finish work they start. They do everything together, constantly switching from one type of activity to another.

Young bees have a well-developed ability to secrete wax plates, which deteriorates with age. Knowing this feature, you need to use the construction potential during the period of the most rapid growth of the family. During this period, the quality of new cells is better.

After a week and a half of hive work, the grown-up shift switches to flight field work. With a large loss of old bees, with an abundant harvest, this period decreases. And if necessary, the opposite happens - some of the flying bees begin hive work.

Bees master flight work in stages. At first they carry water, then they learn to collect pollen and only then begin to collect nectar. Some of the older, more experienced individuals look for new honey plants and become scout bees. They are also different in appearance - their backs seem to be worn out and bald. The optimal distance for honey collection is considered to be a radius of three kilometers. Bees fly for nectar and much further - up to five to seven kilometers. But this requires much more effort and more summer bees are lost.

Lifespan of bees

The lifespan of worker bees depends on the workload and external climatic factors. During the period of a small supporting bribe it is 35-40 days. With abundant honey collection - less. Bees going into winter have the longest life expectancy. They appear in early autumn, when the honey harvest is over. The uterus at this time reduces sowing.

The body of late bees is not worn out by work. In addition, they accumulate special protein substances, i.e. fat bodies. All this contributes to life expectancy until a new generation of young bees hatches.

By mid-May, in central Russia there are no old, overwintered bees left in the colonies.

Lifestyle of bees

Honey bees lead a strictly organized lifestyle.

The community consists of 40 to 80 thousand individuals.

There is only one queen in each such colony.

Bees fly out only in spring and summer to collect nectar and pollen.

Few of them survive the winter by feeding on the honey reserves in the hive.

Before the appearance of the young queen, the former queen leaves the hive, taking with her about half of its population, and they look for a new nest.

Rejuvenation due to consumption of royal jelly: queen in isolation

Biological explanation for the extension of life of autumn bees:

they do not need to feed a lot of babies, as in the beginning and middle of summer;
they themselves consume the secreted royal jelly;
this does not lead to the loss of the family, since the polypores feed only on it;
bees only supplement the diet, and, thanks to its consumption, prolong their lives.

For this reason, beekeepers in Germany and the Scandinavian countries are not afraid to feed the colonies with syrup in the second half of September. Beebread eaten at this time triggers the work of the pharyngeal glands. Due to the use of royal jelly, the body rejuvenates. To check this, isolate the uterus in early July (before the start of the main harvest) for 2-3 frames.

Vision

A bee has two types of eyes: three straight ones on the top of its head and two compound ones on the sides.

Compound eyes are called compound eyes. They have a convex, oblong shape. If you enlarge such an eye several times, you can see a huge number of hexagons on the surface. There are about 6,000 of them in worker bees.

Each cell represents an eye, formed from visual cells. Due to the structure of the eye, the bee sees the image less clearly - it resembles an image divided into separate points. Moving images are easier to watch than static ones.

Simple eyes have a similar structure, but are too undeveloped to perceive images. Their function has not been reliably studied, but it is likely that insects use simple eyes to distinguish between light and dark.