HISTORY OF BEES

LIFE CYCLE OF BEES

TYPES OF BEES

KILLER BEES

HONEY

POLLINATION

Types of Bees

Bees live in groups called colonies. Beehives are very crowded, with ten to sixty thousand in a hive. There are three types of bees, each with an important job in the hive.

Worker
During the first two days of its life, a worker bee cleans its cell. When they are three days old they feed the drones and larvae. Workers have glands that produce wax. They shape the wax into the comb. During their last days in the hive they guard the entrance. When the worker bee leaves the hive, during its travels it collects water, nectar, and pollen. A worker bee has ultraviolet vision which allows it to see patterns on flower petals which attract the workers to them.

Queen
A queen lays all the eggs. For a queen to be born, the workers must feed the larva royal jelly. If a new queen is born, the old queen will kill it or leave with half of the hive colony. That is a bee swarm.

Drone
The drones have big, strong wings. They make up 10% of the hive colony. They use their strong wings for the mating flight. After the mating flight, the workers take care of the drones. Before winter, the workers bite the wings off the drones, and kick them out of the hive since they are of no more use. They are left to die.