How do wild bees differ from domestic bees, is it possible to catch them and how to get rid of them

Description and characteristics

Wild bees are different from domestic ones. They are significantly smaller than the domestic specimen, with an average body length of 2-3 centimeters. They are distinguished by a uniform color, but there are specimens with several shades, usually muted, not as bright as those of their domesticated relatives. The chest is protected by a shell, the front wings are longer than the hind wings, and the hair is much thicker - it warms the insects in winter.

The largest wild bees live in Indonesia; their length can reach up to 39 mm.

On the back of the body there are black and yellow stripes and have wide, flat legs covered with hairs necessary for collecting pollen. The proboscis is well developed. The eyes are located so that almost everything falls into the insect's field of vision. Bees are able to see the road ahead and to the sides, as well as a little of what is behind us. The main defense of any bee is its sting. In the wild bee it predominates with a slightly different gland structure. At the same time, insects are not afraid to use their “weapons”; both noise and a bad smell can make them attack.

All wild bees are capable of pollinating various types of plants. Among them there are both solitary individuals and flocks of 20 thousand bees. Lonely insects pollinate plants, but are not able to produce honey. Most often, they organize worker colonies consisting of 20 working individuals. But such families can only exist for a year.

A distinctive feature of bees is their aggressive nature. As soon as they sense danger, they can use a glandular sting, which is found in both the queen and working individuals. They react to any noise and pungent smell, since wild bees have a huge number of enemies:

• Animals love to taste sweet honey. In such situations, insects often attack thieves in a swarm.
• Social insects, including the queen, workers, and male drones, are also considered enemies of wild bees.

The division of labor between individuals depends on the age of the insects. There are nurse bees, scout bees, forager bees, etc. The main function is fertilization of the uterus. After wintering they are not able to reproduce. Because of this, before cold weather, other individuals in the swarm drive them out of the hive.

The queen lays eggs. The worker bees obey her. They can collect nectar, raise brood, and more. They are characterized by increased resistance to most diseases that are fatal for domestic insects. Wild bees can tolerate frosts down to -50 degrees. They have a more toxic poison.

The history of the beehive, types of hives

People began to be interested in the waste products of bees back in prehistoric times. Wild bees made their homes in rock crevices and tree hollows. On the territory of ancient Rus', covered with dense forests, honey was first extracted from natural hollows of wild bees, beekeeping gradually began to develop, and the first hives appeared.

A hive is a special structure for keeping bees.

Bort is a beehive located in a hollow tree. The beet can be of natural origin or created artificially; a hollow was cut out of the tree and wild bees populated it. The honeycombs with honey were partially removed from the sides, and a certain amount of honey was left for the bees.

Then logs and nest boxes . Hollows with a bee family were cut out of trees and moved closer to the house; such hives were called logs. Or they took a piece of a sawn trunk, hollowed it out from the inside and made a hole in the side. Such hives were called sides or nest boxes.

All sides and decks began to be collected in one place to make it easier to care for them. It was then that the transition from on-board beekeeping to apiary beekeeping took place.

An apiary is a place intended for keeping bees.

In the southern regions, where there is a shortage of timber, bees were kept in special hives, woven from twigs or straw and coated with clay. Wicker hives were called sapetkas . In the steppe regions, hives were made from boards or thin-walled nest boxes were used to keep bees.

Almost all of the above bee shelters were disposable. After the bee colony filled them with honey, the man was forced to destroy the hive to get to the delicacy.

The next stage in the development of beekeeping was the appearance of line hives . In these hives, bees built honeycombs on separate slats, which were located under a removable cover. In order to remove the honeycombs, it was only necessary to cut them from the sides and carefully remove them from the hive without destroying it. However, strip hives did not find widespread use and were gradually replaced by frame hives.

It is generally accepted that the first frame hive was invented by the Ukrainian beekeeper P. I. Prokopovich in 1814. The Polish beekeeper Jan Gerzhon in 1938 and the German beekeeper August von Berlepsch in 1852 also created their own versions of frame hives. The prototype of the modern frame hive design was patented by the founder of American beekeeping, L.L. Langstroth, in 1851 in the USA. In his hive, frames could be removed from the top.

Currently, two types of frame hives are used in beekeeping:

In a vertical hive, called a riser, the frames are located one above the other. The volume of the hive is increased by adding horizontal frames. Multi-hull hives are formed on the basis of risers. They use several cases filled with frames. These housings are placed one on top of the other, which makes caring for the bees much easier.

In a horizontal hive, it is called a bed, the frames are arranged in one row, and the beds themselves look like long boxes. The volume of the hive is increased by adding vertically located frames.

In Russia, both sunbeds and risers are widely used. To maintain a large number of bee colonies, it is recommended to use multi-hull hives. One hive can house several bee families.

As a rule, hives are made of wood. Over the last 10-15 years, foam and plastic have been used for their manufacture. However, still classic wood.

Dangerous “wild” individuals

Wild bees, living in natural conditions and not tamed by humans, can be very dangerous. They are inclined to immediately defend themselves in case of any danger approaching them. Insects are aggressive in nature and can bite both animals and humans. If wild bees have settled near the house, this neighborhood is very unpleasant, not only because the noise that a swarm of bees will make will disturb you, but because their bites can become a serious problem.

A bee sting can make a person with allergies feel ill. If a person is bitten by several wild bees at the same time, this can turn into a tragedy - the venom of insects is very concentrated than that of their domestic relatives.

If you are bitten by a wild bee, call an ambulance or take the following measures:

1. Remove the sting.
2. Treat the wound with alcohol.
3. To remove the poison, thoroughly rinse the wound with salt water.
4. After all procedures, apply a piece of ice or a cold compress to the bite site.

You need to drink a lot of fluids containing ascorbic acid. This could be rosehip infusion or tea with lemon.

General similarity to an ordinary honey sister

Since wild bees are related to ordinary domestic bees, they have quite a lot of common features:

• creating honeycombs for storing honey;
• existence in nature in the form of an organized community;
• using a sting for self-defense
• clear hierarchical structure and distribution of responsibilities within the hive.

What kind of wild bees are there?

According to their organization, representatives of the bee species are divided into several forms:

• Singles. In nature there are many varieties of bees that lead a solitary lifestyle. One female lays eggs and raises the offspring. Such bees do not tend to produce wax and honey, and pollination often occurs according to the type: one variety of bees - one type of plant. If the population of a particular species of wild solitary bee disappears, the threat of extinction of the corresponding plants increases to the limit.
• Semi-public. These bees have not been studied, but it is known that there are many such varieties. Bees tend to group into small colonies, usually 10-12 individuals. This group has a minimum of worker bees. Such bees live only 1 year; only the most fertile females are able to survive the winter.
• Public. Such bee colonies are characterized by increased resistance to diseases. They are characterized by high working capacity, slightly smaller in size compared to domestic bees. Some varieties have a thick fleecy coating and are aggressive in nature.

Origin

Bees are a group of flying insects. It belongs to the order Hymenoptera. Appearance, behavioral characteristics, and vital functions are studied by the science of “Apiology.” The ancestor of honey plants is the predatory wasp.

The transition from insectivorous feeding to pollen eating presumably occurred gradually through the consumption of insects that pollinated plants and were covered in pollen. The oldest fossilized bee was found in amber in 2006. The age of the find dates back to the Cretaceous period (100 million years).

The word “bee” itself has ancient Slavic origins. This form of designation is onomatopoeic “bučati” - “to buzz”. Any insect of this group has two pairs of wings, a proboscis, a sting, and glands with poison.

Where do they live?

A valuable species is the honey bee, which is very rare today. Many individuals live in Bashkiria; a lot of work is being done to preserve this species: entire reserves are being built with an abundance of hollow trees, which ensures the survival of bees.

As a rule, bees settle in tree hollows, but often in practice it turns out differently. The main condition is the presence of a spacious place, protected from direct sunlight and strong winds. It is very important that there is a body of water nearby. For this reason, bees are often found in rock or earthen crevices.

Over time, wild bees chose to settle next to people, which is why insects often choose an attic, a secluded corner in a barn or garage for their home.

Habitats of little workers

Since wild bees love solitude, they choose their habitats accordingly. Mostly wild bees live in forest areas or bushes, far from human buildings.

Many species of furry workers settle in a hive not only in an old and abandoned tree hollow, but also on its branches. They do not hesitate to establish a hive in rock crevices or earthen passages.

There is also a possibility of hives appearing in attics and under the roofs of abandoned buildings. The main condition for establishing a hive for bees is considered to be a nearby source of water (in such cases, “wild” friends may appear near people’s homes).

About life

Bees lead an active lifestyle. They are hard workers who care about creating comfortable conditions. They tend to build a house, reproduce and eat.

How are houses built?

Wild bees are able to build their homes both in the ground and in a hollow tree. When building a house in the ground, the home is more like a tunnel with various branches and exits. There may be a large house underground where a huge bee colony lives. The construction process is quite complicated. It is common for a bee to make a passage in the ground, and it needs to take care that the ground does not collapse during the passage. For these purposes, the insect uses its saliva; after strengthening the walls, the entire house is additionally lubricated with abdominal secretions.

After hardening, the home will not suffer either from rain or from the collapse of the earth, because the walls are firmly hardened and are not afraid of any weather conditions. Bees lay eggs in the house and store the nectar they collect.

But honey bees like to live in the hollow of a tree, since there is a need to process nectar. If you look inside their home, you will find many honeycombs occupying the area of ​​the hollow.

What do they eat?

The food for any wild bee is nectar collected from plants and flowers. Wild bees prefer plants such as sage, linden, bird cherry, and chicory. They are also attracted to coltsfoot, thyme and other fragrant plants.

Reproduction process

After the queen bee flies out of the nest, she is accompanied by drones. During the mating flight, the male and female mate. The queen returns to the nest, where she lays up to 2 thousand eggs daily, while drones that are no longer needed are expelled.

The lifespan of the uterus is about 5 years. During this period of time, she manages to lay more than 2 million eggs.

Where and how do they winter?

A distinctive characteristic of bees is their sensitivity to cold, which is why beekeepers have to carry out a huge number of activities so that the insects can survive the cold without much loss. Nobody creates such conditions for wild bees, and they have to take care of themselves:

• Insects obtain food for themselves by stocking up on huge amounts of food for the winter.
• They drive drones out of their home, continue to actively reproduce and equip their home. If there are any cracks or holes in it, they are immediately repaired.
• Honey bees migrate to the lower part of their home, where there are no food supplies. Here they form a ball and are in constant motion. If they stop, they will freeze and die.

Main types of insects

There are several common types of these insects.

Osmia lignaria

This species is a solitary species. They are actively used as pollinators in Canada and the USA. They are cultivated due to the ease of their maintenance.

The female lays no more than 12 eggs. Usually half of them are male and the other half are female. To do this, she finds some kind of cavity, for example, a hole in a reed eaten by insects. She coats the eggs with pollen and seals the entrance with silt or clay.

The female dies after making several nests. The larvae stay there until spring and then crawl out.

Insects of this species are effective pollinators. They are characterized by an almost complete absence of aggression. Osmia only sting when clenched in a fist.

Apis mellifera

This species is social. Insects accumulate large amounts of honey and wax, raise offspring together, and participate in plant pollination.

The genus apis is cultivated in Bashkir natural reserves. In order for them to feel comfortable, the following conditions must be provided:

1. It is necessary that the habitat be located away from industrial facilities, human habitation and roads.
2. There should be a body of water suitable for insects in the immediate vicinity.
3. There should be a large number of honey plants in the immediate vicinity.

Apis are a source of bee products important for humans. Moreover, their value is much higher than those that can be obtained in an apiary.

It is important to note that if the entire honey harvest is taken from a bee colony, this will most likely lead to the death of the family. Therefore, it is believed that you need to take no more than a third. In this case, the family will retain its viability.

Hives

There are various types of hives found in the natural environment, including those located in trees. They are small bags made from dried leaves, grass and natural adhesives. Before the onset of cold weather, bees actively work: they cover cracks with propolis, raise young brood, and drive out lazy drones.

After the work is completed, the bees gather at the bottom of the hive; this place is considered the warmest; there are no honeycombs in it.

Earth bees, like ants, live in groups and dig through a lot of tunnels underground. At the end of the move, they locate a hole, compacting it with their paws and wetting it with their saliva.

This is how bees create compact and safe homes for themselves, each of which contains an egg on a cushion of flower nectar. The saliva hardens and becomes a hard film, due to which neither water nor cold penetrates into the houses.

The structure of a honeycomb in a wild hive

Most often, the honeycombs are arranged in a tongue shape in cold weather, using a layer to connect them. The hollow is about five meters long. It has up to 7 rows arranged vertically. The hive has good ventilation. On warm drifts, combs are lined up if the hollow is defective, there is a crack in it. The hole in the hollow will be the hole that appears at the site of the fallen branch.

Due to the fact that there are holes in the honeycombs, there is a regular exchange of air in the hollow. Bees can jump out of the combs, creating clubs to survive the winter normally.

When insects colonize a hollow, the entrance is located below the honeycomb. After settlement, gradual construction with honeycombs continues. The queen sinks to the very bottom; honeycombs with babies are used for collection. The strength of the family gradually increases, the hive expands, so building a nest is a long process. This may take years.

How are wild bees different from domestic insects?

Due to the fact that both domestic and wild bees belong to the same species category, they still share common features:

• both domestic and wild bee colonies live in close-knit organized groups;
• these both species use a sting when they sense approaching danger;
• each bee in the hive performs its duties: worker bees, drones, queen, honey bees;
• have the same body parts, and the distinguishing features are little things;
• To deposit honey, both domestic and wild bees create honeycombs.

Bees differ in the following characteristics:

• Wild bees are predominantly gray in color; there is no characteristic yellow color. Some varieties do not have clear stripes on the body at all.
• A wild bee has an aggressive character and is capable of attacking an animal or person if it does not like the smell or the slightest noise.
• Wild individuals have strong immunity, which cannot be said about domestic bees. They can even survive cold temperatures of -50 degrees.
• Undomesticated insects are characterized by hard work, activity, and the ability to collect nectar and make honey. As a result, wild bees stock up on food in preparation for cold weather.
• Some wild representatives have a “fur” covering and a protective shell on the chest.
• Wild honey bees have a smaller body than domestic bees, reaching an average of 2-3 centimeters in length. But there are also large representatives.

What they look like

How do wild bees differ from swarms that have recently flown away from their owners:

• The coloring of wild individuals is not as elegant as that of human-bred breeds. It depends on the climate and habitat of the population. The abdomen is painted in dark muted tones from light gray to black. The stripes are almost invisible. Modest coloring is less attractive to predators - hornets or birds.
• They have a dense shell on their chest. Very thick hair does not allow one to freeze in cold weather. They are very hardy and rarely get sick.
• They are aggressive. If they are disturbed, they attack in a swarm.
• Forest bees are usually small, about 3 mm in size, and are very fast and fussy.
• They are distinguished by high efficiency. In winter, a bee swarm can only die from starvation, so large food reserves are the key to a successful winter.

This is interesting! The smallest dwarf bee, Perdita minima, lives in North America: its size is less than 2 mm. Megachile giant bees live in Southeast Asia: females reach a size of 3.9 cm, their wingspan is more than 6 cm.

How to get rid of wild bees?

Unlike simple, domestic insects, wild bees are considered very dangerous. Their venom is much more toxic, which is why the bite can pose a serious threat, especially for a child or a person suffering from allergies. A mass attack can be fatal. It is important to know how to properly drive out wild bees if they settle in an area already occupied by humans.

Initially, a simpler method is used: they call a veterinary service or any similar organization that can catch the insects and relocate them to a safe habitat for them.

If there is no such service in the city, you will have to solve the current problem yourself:

1. It is necessary to create a bait hive - an ordinary wooden or cardboard box disguised as a tree.
2. After preparing the bait, it is placed near the home of wild bees; queen pheromone or lemongrass oil is dripped into the false hive; this attracts the attention of insects. Bees are especially sensitive to odors, due to which they will quickly move to a new place if they like it.
3. After the bees move in, having first put on a protective suit, the hive is closed and placed in a tight bag.
4. Finding a new home for bees becomes a difficult task in such a situation. They are transferred or transported to a new place, the bag is removed so that the insects do not behave aggressively, and they are smoked with a smoker. The hive is not taken away, it is left with the bees.

Is it possible to breed forest insects yourself?

If you decide to start your beekeeping with wild insects, it is risky, but believe me, it is worth it. Pets can become infested, get sick and infect other families. But with wild bees everything is completely different. As already mentioned, they are famous for their hardiness, heat resistance and hard work.

They practically do not get sick, which means that their offspring will also be strong and healthy. Stability for the beekeeper in this matter is an important aspect! Therefore, if you start your activity with strong and hardworking insects, this is only a plus.

Of course, catching wild insects and then keeping them is a difficult question. But the result will outshine all the difficulties that you encountered along the way. In general, if you do everything correctly and to please the bees, minor failures can be avoided altogether.

Which hive is best for beginner beekeepers?

Catching bees and breeding them

To catch wild bees, beekeepers use a special trap, which is made of ordinary plywood, and also carry out the following manipulations:

1. Make a box where 4-8 frames are installed. Several frames with old honeycombs are suitable as bait, the rest are tightened with wire.
2. Next, you need to climb a tree at a level of 3-6 meters above the ground and hang a trap. It is advisable to install the structure on a tree near a clearing or clearing, preferably if there are coniferous trees around.
3. The box is secured using slings or ropes. Then leave it for a while. The capture of bees especially occurs during the swarming period, which lasts from May 25 to July 10. The trap is checked every 7-10 days.
4. After the swarm moves into the box, it is carefully removed from the tree and transferred to the desired location. The operation is performed after sunset, when all the workers have returned to their new home. They quietly climb the tree and close the container, securing it well so that when they descend to the ground, the box does not open. It must be taken into account that the weight of the captured swarm and the box as a whole will be more than 5 kilograms.

It is possible to trap a swarm of wild bees, but breeding them at home will not be possible. Experienced beekeepers install cut logs in forests and near houses in Bashkiria. This is beekeeping, which is considered a very ancient type of beekeeping. In such a deck, the swarm will continue to live its usual life, and the beekeeper’s main task is to timely collect honey from wild bees.

Insects are very selective, which is why they are not always ready to move to any wood. It is recommended to rub the cut logs with aromatic herbs, build honeycombs, and only after settling in, collect some of the honey. Otherwise, the bees may fly away from the ruined nest. If they have chosen a place, then they can take root in it.

Honey is healthy, tasty, but difficult to obtain

This product contains many useful substances: iron, copper, zinc, iodine, calcium, manganese, fluorine.

Regular consumption has a healing effect on the body, including:

1. Increases immunity.
2. Strengthens the walls of blood vessels.
3. Helps improve blood circulation.
4. Able to relieve pain.
5. Has rejuvenating properties.

If wild bees and their nests were found in the forest, then in the old days they tried to move them closer to the dwelling, along with that part of the trunk where the hollow is located (it was called the side).

To collect honey, the following method is used:

1. A house with frames is made in advance for insects to live in. In the fall, they take part of the product for themselves, and leave part for the bees so that they survive.
2. They make a new home for the bees, and bury almost the entire hollow in the old one, so that they can fly out, but cannot return back. After some time, they open the hollow and smear it with honey so that they take all the collected honey to their new home.

Benefits of wild honey

The collection of “wild” honey occurs in the autumn, it has time to fully ripen, gain useful substances, and become saturated with its delicate, natural aroma and taste. Honey is popularly used in cosmetology, folk and traditional medicine. It is generally accepted that it allows one to cope with various diseases, including diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, bronchi, heart, lungs, etc. It also helps reduce inflammation and pain.

“Wild” honey is a special product that has unique healing properties due to its rich composition:

• many vitamins;
• bee bread, wax and propolis;
• macro- and microelements;
• minerals.

It is a rich and fully ripened product. The maximum value is obtained through manual collection, which allows not to disrupt the activity of insects. When processing raw materials, no mechanical interventions are used.

Traditional medicine often refers to the medicinal properties of wild honey. It has been observed that honey increases appetite and improves metabolism. With its help, it is possible to normalize cardiac activity and capillary patency, and cure diseases associated with the gastrointestinal tract.

What other problems does honey help fight:

• helps treat kidney disease;
• improves the treatment of respiratory diseases;
• allows you to improve your condition with elevated body temperature, inflammation, and sore throat;
• improves blood circulation of internal organs;
• effectively relieves muscle pain and joint spasms.

The distinctive features of the product are its dark and rich shade, similar to buckwheat. Honey predominates with a heady aroma with a slight admixture of smoke, a viscous, very thick composition of the mass, and astringency.

Features of the genus Apis

Some bee species build a single honeycomb plate. They cannot live inside the hive.

Honeycombs on branches

The number of families in this case will be small. The basis of the structure is tree branches.

Where to find

The table lists the species belonging to the genus Apis.

Hives should be looked for in tree hollows, as well as in the ground in fields and meadows. It should be noted that Apis Florea is a species that is resistant to high temperatures. In this species, the temperature balance is shifted 10 degrees upward, and the bees feel good even at +50 C.

Species Florea, features

The main habitat for Apis Florea bees is not Siberia or India, but the Persian Gulf.

It is clear that the habitat cannot be the taiga massif. We need honey plants, that is, plants that produce nectar. Insects of the genus Apis settle in the hollows of the following trees: aspen, willow, and less commonly, linden. And giant bee colonies can live in the cracks of aspen or poplar trees. In one fissure, a hive of wild bees was found, the length of which exceeded 5 meters.

Any bee colony consists of a queen bee, tens or hundreds of drones and thousands of workers. Only the latter can sting, but their venom causes allergies. A queen bee can sting another insect. It is distinguished by its increased body length.

The hive can be located hundreds of meters from the reservoir. Then the reservoir is a source of drinking. In June, during haymaking, many hive nests are found in the meadows. And you can notice that there is a source of water nearby. In a forest or shelter belt, this rule is not followed. But the facts are known:

• The lower entrance in a tree with a hollow is located at a height of 5-7 meters;
• Sometimes the height reaches 20 meters;
• Bees can be smoked out through the entrance, but it will not be possible to remove the honeycomb from the hollow.

How to remove honey

To remove honey from the honeycomb, you need to remove the honeycomb from the hive. And if the nest is in a tree, the trunk has to be cut down...

Beehive in an aspen hollow

Everything that is said below is considered poaching:

1. All tapholes are sealed with a mixture of clay and water;
2. The trunk is cut down;
3. Saw the hive in half.

This is the only way to get to the honey, continuously using the smoker.

How to search and catch

You can determine where the nest is located in different ways:

1. They track where the bees fly after watering;
2. In the spring, before the first flight, everything unnecessary is thrown out of the hive: litter, dead bees, etc. And if the snow has not yet melted, the remains of litter will be visible from afar.
3. From the last days of May you can use bait - troughs attached with ropes to poles. Honey is poured into the trough, but it is better to use a mixture of honey and water.

This mixture is called “full” - it is one of the favorite treats of bees.

Trap designs

Sometimes traps are also used. They are divided into two types: those that do not kill individuals and those that kill. The killing trap is an ordinary plastic bottle (see photo).

Advantages and disadvantages of wild bees

Even though wild bees prefer only a few plants to collect honey, this is not considered a barrier for them to collect record quantities during the main collecting period. They can build many large combs, which makes the work of beekeepers easier.

The advantage is that breeding this breed of bee is called “dry seal honey.” Wild bees seal the honey in the combs so that there is an air gap between it and the top. The finished frame with honeycombs has a very beautiful appearance, which is especially appreciated by beekeepers.

When the main period of honey collection begins, bees tend to fill the supers in the hives with honey, which greatly facilitates selection in the apiary.

A positive aspect is not only increased resistance to diseases, but also the high performance of bees, large volumes of honey produced and its excellent quality.

The disadvantages of wild bees include their overly aggressive nature, because insects can become angry with any intervention in the hive, which is why it is necessary to work with them only after wearing a special protective suit.

Also a minus is a possible decrease in honey yield in the absence of sufficient flowering of plants that insects prefer. But this happens infrequently; wild bees manage to find a suitable source for collecting honey during the main flight period.

A negative factor is the tendency of wild bees to actively swarm, from which it is very difficult to remove the swarm. Due to the powerful instinct of reproduction, the population is able to survive in difficult climatic conditions, but this can make it difficult to collect honey.

Wild bees, although dangerous insects, are considered very useful for nature and humans, because they are easy to characterize. They are able to work, due to which they lead an active lifestyle, which allows them to collect large amounts of very tasty honey, which is later collected by beekeepers.

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Where and how to organize a nest-hive

The main habitat of a bee family in the wild is the hollow of a tree. As soon as they find a suitable place, they cover it from the inside with propolis and begin to form honeycombs. In this case, the top part is done first, and then the rest is completed.

When settling down to spend the winter, bees concentrate near the bottom of the wild hive. They survive by feeding on accumulated reserves and gradually rise upward as supplies are depleted.

The photo shows hives of wild bees in nature:

Peculiarities

Today, there are over 20 thousand species of bees in nature, and a large proportion of them are wild species. Like domestic honey insects, almost all of them function as pollinators. Wild species can exist in social formations of 10 thousand or more individuals, but most often they are organized into semi-social families. Their colonies are relatively small, and the number of worker individuals rarely exceeds 20. Such families usually live only 1 year.

There are also some species of semi-social bees, which can have about 100 individuals in a colony. At the same time, they are able to live for several seasons. However, unlike economic species, wild ones not only live in large families, but also have solitary bees. They do not produce honey, but are good pollinators.

In appearance, wild individuals also differ from economic ones. The color of these bees is monochromatic and more subdued in shade, as can be seen in both the photo and video. Their bodies do not have the bright yellow stripes that their domestic counterparts have. But there is a shell on the chest, and the hind wings are slightly shorter than the front ones. Also, if we compare them with “domestic” workers, they have a more luxuriant hair covering, which protects them in harsh winter conditions.

As for their appearance, wild bees are small in size. Their body is more elongated and their head is quite large. The size ranges from 2.1 mm for the dwarf species and an average of 3.2 mm. It is worth noting that the largest bees live in Indonesia. Their body length can reach 39 mm, and their wingspan can reach 63 mm.

The eyes are designed in such a way that the bee can see all directions of the world, while the organ of vision remains absolutely motionless. As for character, wild individuals are more vicious and aggressive than domestic ones. The sting, a modified structure of the glands, acts as a defensive weapon. The queen bee and workers have it. When she senses danger, she uses her sting.

Honeycombs amaze with their architectural features. The cells are hexagonal in shape. And, despite the fact that they have thin walls, these cameras can withstand weights of over 5 kg. To form honeycombs, insects use a waxy substance secreted by adult members of the bee family. Nests are usually built near a body of water, especially in hot and dry regions.

Every year, populations of wild honey plants decrease, as there is less and less space for their successful habitat. Bees, adapted for life outside of domestic conditions, value freedom most of all, so maintaining their populations artificially is not so easy. However, people have learned to make special beehives that meet the requirements of wild insects.

Borti helps to preserve wild bee species and control their population, and is also an important source of valuable “wild” honey. In the distant past, this product was obtained in a barbaric way, ruining the nests of working women. But today their protection and conservation are the main task of a separate branch of beekeeping - beekeeping. You can learn about it, as well as how the sides are created, in our previous publications. There you will find useful videos and photos.

Megrelian

The second name is Georgian bees. This is a population of the Caucasian breed, which today is actively moving north - Mingrelian bees are distinguished by good frost resistance. Insects have a silver-gray color without yellow inclusions. Mingrelian bees have a longer proboscis than an ordinary Caucasian bee - up to 7.25 mm and even up to 7.5 mm. This length allows insects to extract nectar from narrow tubular flowers.

The productivity of the uterus is up to 1500 eggs per day. Beekeepers love to work with the Megrelian breed because of the combination of activity and peacefulness - a lot of honey and little aggression. Many beekeepers work only with this breed - it is so successful.

Hunting for wild bees

In ancient times there was no sugar, so sweets could only be obtained from wild bees.

Over time, man realized that to extract honey it is not necessary to destroy the entire swarm; it is enough to carefully cut off the honeycombs. Then he began to take one part of the honey for himself, shared the second with the forest spirits, and left the third for the bees.

Image in the Spider Cave (Spain): a man destroying the home of bees

People gained experience, came up with ladders in order to reach a hollow with a nest, primitive smokers, beekeeping axes, and cats for climbing trees. Gradually, honey extraction became a necessary, respected and profitable job.

Trees with bee nests were considered property. They were marked with special family symbols. Many of them subsequently became the basis for the heraldic emblems of noble and gentry families.

Wild bees nest

Historian scientists are unanimous in their opinion about the origin of the graphic pre-heraldic and heraldic signs of a significant part of the medieval noble coats of arms. We are talking about columns, gameids, shingles, molettes, reels, staples and other heraldic images. It is generally accepted that initially these signs were passed from one generation to another as side marks. That is, they marked the beans from which one or another group of people, most often members of the same family or clan, took honey. Then the same sign began to be used as

a brand for branding livestock, and later when it was necessary to mark real estate for ease of identification. Thus, in just a couple of centuries, ordinary marks intended to prevent the theft of honey became the sacred sign and coat of arms of various clans.

Bees of the tropics sometimes do without a hollow