The ecology of the bee is one that is complex but fascinating and inspiring when one has the rare pleasure of witnessing them. It is a rare and beautiful sight to behold. When one is opportune to have apiaries especially at a young age it is an experience that one would long remember for years to come. Truly honeybees are amazing specie. In the study of the bee's ecology it is only proper that one starts from the honeycomb. The bees normally build a hive that is made from wax that is from the secretion of the workers. This wax is then formed into perfectly shaped cells that are hexagonal in nature. These cells are used for raising lava bees and also in storing honey. The cells are also used in drones. The worker bees always build a royal chamber for their queen and her drones. The royal chamber also has compartments which are called nurseries and the nurseries are called antechambers. It is in these nurseries that the drones and young queens are raised.
The statistics on the ecology of the bees is quite overwhelming because one queen has up to twenty drone working for her as well as up to eighty thousand workers at a time under her. The queens are the fertile females in the colony that lays eggs. The drones and larvae from the eggs that are not fertile are the males and the workers are the unfertile female bees and these include the nurse bees.
The bees are a people that respect order and direction n their endeavours. This is why every one has well spelt out jobs that they all fulfil. The queen has only one job and this is to lay eggs that she has gathered sperm for from the drones. These eggs are then fertilised and they will either become queen themselves or workers upon maturity. There are some eggs which she lays at certain specific points in the outer chamber of the royal court. These eggs are then the ones that grow to become drones.
The drones have the most peculiar lifestyle. Like the queen they have just one job and this is to fertilise the virgin queen. Alas when this job is done their usefulness is ended and they die. They have no defenced whatsoever against this. In winter when the production of honey comes to a stop or is even reduced the drones are sent out of the camp to starve outside in favour of both the workers and the queen. After all come spring, the queen would lay eggs for more drones that will replace those have been sent out of the camp. The new drones will do the jobs of mating and continue the reproduction phase.
The workers do every thing else and as such are greatly needed. They are the ones that collect the pollens from flowers and sip nectar repeatedly. They then return to the hive and drop the nectar as well as pollen that they have trapped in between their feet. The combination of the pollen, nectar and acid from their stomach is what makes up the honey that we know today.
The statistics on the ecology of the bees is quite overwhelming because one queen has up to twenty drone working for her as well as up to eighty thousand workers at a time under her. The queens are the fertile females in the colony that lays eggs. The drones and larvae from the eggs that are not fertile are the males and the workers are the unfertile female bees and these include the nurse bees.
The bees are a people that respect order and direction n their endeavours. This is why every one has well spelt out jobs that they all fulfil. The queen has only one job and this is to lay eggs that she has gathered sperm for from the drones. These eggs are then fertilised and they will either become queen themselves or workers upon maturity. There are some eggs which she lays at certain specific points in the outer chamber of the royal court. These eggs are then the ones that grow to become drones.
The drones have the most peculiar lifestyle. Like the queen they have just one job and this is to fertilise the virgin queen. Alas when this job is done their usefulness is ended and they die. They have no defenced whatsoever against this. In winter when the production of honey comes to a stop or is even reduced the drones are sent out of the camp to starve outside in favour of both the workers and the queen. After all come spring, the queen would lay eggs for more drones that will replace those have been sent out of the camp. The new drones will do the jobs of mating and continue the reproduction phase.
The workers do every thing else and as such are greatly needed. They are the ones that collect the pollens from flowers and sip nectar repeatedly. They then return to the hive and drop the nectar as well as pollen that they have trapped in between their feet. The combination of the pollen, nectar and acid from their stomach is what makes up the honey that we know today.
SHARE