Kingdom: Anamalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Superfamily: Apoidea
There are 10-11 different families of bees and 20,000 recognized species.
The honeybee most commonly seen is the Western Honey bee, also known as Apis Mellifera. There are three different castes of bees, known as the queen, drones and workers. The queen is the reproductive female of the hive. She is responsible for mothering all of the individuals in a colony. The drones are the males of the hive. Their main responsibility is mating with the queen. The workers are sterile females who are responsible for all jobs in the colony.
Bees have four stages of development. In these stages they are considered brood. The brood begins as an egg, then turns into larvae, then turns into pupae and finally they are adults. The type of food delivered to the larvae, along with weather or not the egg is fertilized determines its sex/caste. Unfertilized eggs always become drones and fertilized eggs can either turn into queens or workers. If a queen is necessary in a colony, the fertilized larvae will be fed high amounts of royal jelly, otherwise the soon to be workers and drones will be fed brood food, honey and pollen.
Like many insects, honey bees are comprised of three main parts, including the head, thorax and abdomen. The bee also has three pairs of legs, one pair of antennae and two pairs of membranous wings. Their skeleton, called an exoskeleton is flexible and provides protection, precise movements and prevention of water loss. The internal anatomy of the honey bee includes the digestive system, excretory system, circulatory system, respiratory system, nervous system, endocrine system and reproductive system.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Superfamily: Apoidea
There are 10-11 different families of bees and 20,000 recognized species.
The honeybee most commonly seen is the Western Honey bee, also known as Apis Mellifera. There are three different castes of bees, known as the queen, drones and workers. The queen is the reproductive female of the hive. She is responsible for mothering all of the individuals in a colony. The drones are the males of the hive. Their main responsibility is mating with the queen. The workers are sterile females who are responsible for all jobs in the colony.
Bees have four stages of development. In these stages they are considered brood. The brood begins as an egg, then turns into larvae, then turns into pupae and finally they are adults. The type of food delivered to the larvae, along with weather or not the egg is fertilized determines its sex/caste. Unfertilized eggs always become drones and fertilized eggs can either turn into queens or workers. If a queen is necessary in a colony, the fertilized larvae will be fed high amounts of royal jelly, otherwise the soon to be workers and drones will be fed brood food, honey and pollen.
Like many insects, honey bees are comprised of three main parts, including the head, thorax and abdomen. The bee also has three pairs of legs, one pair of antennae and two pairs of membranous wings. Their skeleton, called an exoskeleton is flexible and provides protection, precise movements and prevention of water loss. The internal anatomy of the honey bee includes the digestive system, excretory system, circulatory system, respiratory system, nervous system, endocrine system and reproductive system.
When bees choose their nesting site, they are looking for the following factors:
1. Distance from parental nest.
2. Cavity volume.
3. Size of entrance.
4. Height of entrance above ground.
5. Near good foraging resources,
6. Fresh water.
1. Distance from parental nest.
2. Cavity volume.
3. Size of entrance.
4. Height of entrance above ground.
5. Near good foraging resources,
6. Fresh water.
One of the most important aspects of foraging for bees is communication. Bees are able to effectively communicate by using dance language and also pheromones. While using dance language, bees are able to communicate distance, direction, odor and quality. There are three main dances bees use for communication. The first is the round dance, which recruits other bees towards a food source. The second dance is called the waggle dance, where bees are recruiting others towards food and nest-site location. The last dance is called the dorsal-ventral abdominal vibrating dance. This stimulates foraging, controls queen emergence and prepares others for swarming.