Meet the Bee
Bees are one of the most complex organisms that can be found in the world. They were creating structures before man ever did. They have a vast population (where most have their needs met) of about 70,000 bees even before man created a tribe. Even today, it could be argued that bee society is better structured than human society.
Like us bees are also social creatures. They can’t live alone. A bee without a hive is a dead bee. Within the hive, they have specialized tasks. There is no bee without one. Even drones, which are specialized for only one task, will take up other tasks, like cooling the hive, if needed. They realize that their survival depends on the survival of the colony. A colony of bees is composed of a single queen, hundreds of drones and tens of thousands of workers.
The Queen. Men did not christen the queen lightly. She is the most important member of a hive. Her survival ensures the longevity of the colony. Her purpose is simple; she lays the eggs of the future generation. She is the only one capable of that. The vast numbers of worker bees are infertile. She only needs to mate once. Or rather, she only needs a single mating period. She can mate with several drones in that time. Her mating period lasts only for a few days. After mating with up to 15 drones, she will keep their sperm inside of her. Every now then she will release it in order to fertilize her eggs. A vigorous queen can lay up to 2 thousand new eggs a day. Most queens live for 2 to 3 years. However, some have been documented to live for up to 7 years.
The Worker. The worker bee is the all-important base of the hive. Without them, the colony will fall apart. They do most of the tasks in the colony. All day the humble worker goes to seal the honey, feed the drones, raise young bees and larvae, attend the queen, build honeycombs, store pollen, propolize, remove dead bees and larvae, cool the hive, guard, carry water and forage. They don’t do all these tasks at once, naturally. Workers mature in 21 days and live for about six weeks. For each age in their life, they are tasked with specific jobs. For example, guarding the colony is done by the oldest and biggest workers.
The Drone. The poor male bee. Unlike the queen and the worker they are hatched from unfertilized eggs. Drones have it tough. They are the butt monkeys of bee society. They are only raised when the colony’s resources can support them. When times are tough and food is scarce, the workers drive the drones away because they are only useful for one thing, to mate with the queen.
Jonathan Russell is an artist and blogger that has been writing articles on many different topics for the last 2 years. You can find him contributing articles at http://www.organic-beekeeping.net, visit now and learn how to deal with the Africanized honey bee.