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Let’s talk Bees

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=honey+bee+videos&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=E6F1E803BD31BDC39BD8E6F1E803BD31BDC39BD8

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Really lets talk bees

http://www.arkive.org/honey-bee/apis-mellifera/video-12a.html

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Colony Dynamics

Basic bee biology

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Honeybees are like other InsectsThey Have:

6 legsHead, thorax, abdomenWinged

• Have hard external skeleton, called an exoskeleton. • Have jointed arms and legs. • Do not have a spine or spinal cord.• Do not have lungs• Open Circulatory System

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Honeybees are unique

• Social Insects that live cooperatively• Gather and Store excess quantities of food• Overwinter (they don’t hibernate)• Only insects that are managed as livestock

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Where are they from?

• Old world– Apis mellifera mellifera= European– Apis mellifera scutellata= Africa– Apis cerena = Southern Asia– Apis dorsata = Southeast Asia

– Apis mellifera in Latin means 'honey-bearing bee'.

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Apis mellifera spp.

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Basic Anatomy

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Bee Eyes

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What color can bees see?

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Vision and Navigation

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Internal Anatomy

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Honeybee Lifecycle

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Social Order

• Queen• Worker• Drone

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Major Glands

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Wax Glands

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Jobs - Never unemployment or a layoff • Workers do the work in the bee society. Employment is based on the age of the bee and the needs of the

colony. During their life they pass through many job promotions: • Nurse Bee

1 – 12 days Clean own cell and others Feeding brood (larvae)

• House Bee 10 – 20 days old Comb building House keeping Undertaker Ripening honey Climate control Secreting/molding wax into cells Accept and store pollen and nectar from foragers

• House Security Guard hive and its entrance (some say only about 5% of bees perform this job) Orientation flights to learn surroundings

• Field Agent After about three weeks the girls are ready to spend the rest of their lives as foragers gathering

pollen, nectar, tree resin (that they turn into propolis) and water for the hive. During this time they work themselves to death – literally

Worker bees in the summer only live about six weeks. In the winter they live a leisurely life for several months

(Well, except for those drones)

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WorkerFemale (generally non-reproductive)

Life span 45 days to 4 months

Egg to Maturity: 21 days

About 20,000 to 60,000 in a colony

Duties:Cell cleaning (Day 1-2)Nurse bee (Day 3-11)Advanced Nurse Bees (Day 6-11)Wax production (Day 12-17)Guard Bees (Days 18 - 21)Foraging bees (Days 22 - 42)

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Guard Bees

Workers have a Nasanoff gland at the end of their abdomen. This Nasanoff gland is used by the guard bees at the hive entrance to disseminate a scent that guides young bees back to the entrance during early flights.

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Drones

Male

Life span up to 4 monthsDon’t overwinter

Egg to Maturity: 24 days

Sexually mature at 2 weeks

Duties:Mate with Queens

Mates once in drone congregation areas at about 300 feet above ground, then dies

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Queens

Female

Life span 3-5 years

Peak Productive life 1-2 years

Egg to Maturity: 16 days

Duties:Lay eggs

Can lay 1500 eggs a day at height of season

Pheromones Produces air-borne pheromones (“queen substance”) that keep the colony functioning orderly, loyal and protective to that queen

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9-oxodecenoic acid (9-ODA)

9-hydroxy-(E)-2-decenoic acid (9-HDA)

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Brood pheromones

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Brood Frame

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Reproduction

Bee (colony) Population

Species Reproduction

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q3dABl8HXA&feature=player_detailpage

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Queen Swarm Cell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89rtOi1FcoQ&feature=player_detailpage

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Communication

• Physical Communications– Waggle Dance – Piping

• Pheromones– Nasonav– Poison– Alarm

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So the Waggle Dance

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Waggle Dance –for Real

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=waggle+dance&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=9746D41177D396DA43B59746D41177D396DA43B5

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Break

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Hives Naturally

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History of Bee Hives

Lorenzo Langstroth in 1851

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Langstroth Hive and the bee space

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The Bees Space is:

A space between 3/8 inch and 1/4 inch is in a range of acceptable bee space, with 5/16 inch an average

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Top Bar Hive

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The Perfect Spot

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Locating Hives

• Some other points– Cold Air Drainage– Consideration of your neighbors– A suitable flight path– Property Lines– Neighborhood rules– Special use permit

• County Code (varies from county to county)

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Getting Bees

• How– Packages 3 or 4 lbs with Queen– Nucs– Swarms– Established Hives

• When – Packages late March/April/May– Nucs late spring May/June– Swarms April/May– Established Hive – Spring - Fall

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Getting Bees

• Where– Packages from Georgia, Carolinas, Tennessee, local?– Nucs Local beekeepers– Swarms , bee club network, word of mouth, – Established local beekeeper

• How– Most clubs have a package run – Ashland and Richmond– Nucs – make sure they are inspected, take an experienced

beekeeper– Swarm more detail to follow– Established hive – inspection and take experienced beekeeper to

look at them

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Getting Bees

Package Bees 10,000 to 12,000 beesQueen bee with attendantsCan sugar syrup

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Package Bees

Demonstration – Prep Hive– Step 1. – Sugar Spray bees– Step 2. – Shake down remove queen and sugar– Step 3. – Place queen in hive– Step 4. – Shake Bees into hive– Step 5. – Place feeder– Step 6. – Close– Step 7. - Wait

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Honey Bee Nucs

• 5 frames• Laying Queen• 2 frames of honey/pollen• 3 frames of

brood/pollen/honey • Free of obvious disease• Free of small hive beetles• Should have state inspection

Number one advantage – established, rapid build up

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Swarms

Advantage is they often build comb quickly and get established

Disadvantage typically older bees and old queen

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Capture a Swarm

• Technique is simple but– Bees don’t always make it easy

• Set up hive on sheet• Cut branch and shake most of bees into open

hive• Shake rest on to sheet• If you can’t cut branch shake or brush in

Bucket

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Getting Bees

Buying a established hive– Cost expect to pay anywhere from 200-300– Price depends on season and size of hive– Make sure inspected by State for disease– Transportation a challenge for most– Age of queen is important– Expect hive beetles and varroa mites

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Questions