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There are approximately two hundred and fifty species of
bee, although only thirty species form "social orders".
One of these is the honey bee. The bee is a member of the vast order known as
Hymenoptera, the most intelligent and organised of the
insect world.
Honey bees are social insects with a strict caste order with
queen, drone and worker, all having a specific
function within the community. The bees travel from the hive
to flowers during good flying weather gathering
pollen and nectar, using it as a food source for themselves
and for the other members of the colony. It is this
trafficking from flower to flower that is so beneficial as
it pollinates many flowers and trees.
There is only one queen bee per hive during most
of the year. In appearance she is
slightly longer in the body than the worker but has
noticeably smaller wings and she possesses a sting. The
queen's purpose is solely laying eggs in the cells made by
her workers; she never leaves the hive in search of
pollen and nectar. She is fed food, called bee-milk or chyle
by nurse bees.
Within the honey bee's strict caste order the queen is at
the highest level and is shown a great deal of respect
by the worker bees. They follow her wherever she goes
allowing her clear space to walk in the congested hive.
Drones are fertile male bees. They have much the
same appearance as the worker bee
but are slightly longer, and do not have the ability to
sting. They, like the queen, do not collect pollen and
nectar and take no part in the production of honey and the
construction of cells. In fact after the 'swarming' period
is over, they die or are put to death and no more are allowed
to develop until the following spring.
Worker Bees Workers are slender and small occurring in great
numbers in the bee colony. They are the labourers of the bee world, undertaking many duties in
the hive, including collecting pollen and nectar,
constructing cells, tending the queen, guarding the hive and
nursing the many eggs and grubs (pupae). They
are not normally aggressive but possess the ability to
sting.
Swarming Bees swarm together in the late spring and early
summer usually around the months of May and June in order to produce new colonies. Bees swarm
when there is competition In the hive from a new queen produced in the cells by the workers
feeding ordinary worker pupae on a secretion called hypopharyngeal,
commonly known as Royal Jelly.
This prolonged feeding allows the common worker pupa to
emerge as a Virgin Queen, who is a direct threat to the
existing breeding queen, disrupting the strict
social order. When this occurs a swarm of bees leaves its
present colony in search of a new location. When they find a
suitable site they form a tight mass of bees
with the queen guarded in the centre. It is this massive
cohesion of bees that many people are alarmed by, seeing
them clinging to bushes, trees, fences etc.
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