Why We Need Bees

Over one third of the Global food production is reliant on bees. They are a vital part of our ecosystem. A single honey bee can visit over 2000 flowers in a single day – a strong hive can have up to 50,000 bees.... that's a lot of pollination!

And of course.... Honey!

All bees in a colony all play a vital role.

The Queen

The Queen is the colonies mother. She lays between 2,000 and 2,500 eggs per day!

She continually produces her own pheromone which assures all her colony she is alive and well – and also keeps workers sterile. The queen can live from 3 to 6 years. As she gets older and slows down the laying, workers will start to feed new brood with royal jelly to raise a new queen. The new queen will then take over from the current queen and the workers will adopt the new queen as their new leader.

She will mate several times over a couple of days – storing millions of sperm in her body that allow her to lay for the rest of her life.

The Drones

These are the male bees within a honey bee colony. Slightly larger than the females, they can live for only a few weeks or, if lucky up to 4 months.

They are considered to be the 'lazy' bees in the hive – They do not clean the hive, they do not nurse the young bees or brood, they do not help build comb or even leave the hive to collect food!

The sole purpose of the drones is to mate. Not all drones get to mate (the ones with a longer life span of a few weeks) because they die straight after mating!

The drones cannot sting, but because of their work ethic and role within the hive – at the end of the pollen season they are usually the first to get kicked out the hive – saving valuable resources and honey for the rest of the colony to survive the colder months.

Drones are essential to the health and survival of the honey bee colonies.

The Workers This group makes up the largest portion within the colony. They are all female and work tirelessly at different tasks, depending on their age.

The Cleaners

At just one or two days after hatching, the new bees are assigned as cleaners. They are responsible for cleaning and tidying and polishing the empty cells, so the cells are ready to receive new eggs from the queen. Before laying the queen will inspect the individual cells – and if not up to standard will make the cleaners clean them again!

Foragers

At the age of 12 days old bees can be assigned as foragers. They leave the hive at sunrise – or when the temperature starts to rise, and will forage flowers, plants and pollen within a 2 mile radius of their home. They can make up to 10 trips a day collecting – each trip lasting for up to an hour. A full hive of bees will fly 90,000 miles ( 3 and a half times round the world) to produce one kilo of honey.

Undertakers

Some of the older bees are assigned as undertakers. Their role is to take dead, dying or diseased bees out of the hive and as far away as possible. This stops possible spread of infections or disease.

The Nurse bees

Some of the workers are tasked with nursing duties.

They are responsible for the incubation and care of the new brood that has been laid – a bit like a midwife. It is reported a single brood is checked over 1,000 times a day by the nurse bees! They also take pollen and honey to pack into the cells for the rest of the colony.

The Builders

At 12 days old the builder bees are now mature enough to secrete and produce wax, which is used to help construct the 'innards' of the hive. New cells and stores are constructed this way. To produce the amount of beeswax they must eat a lot more than the other bee roles.

The Temperature Specialists

These workers control the temperature and humidity within the hive. To keep a warmer temperature they cluster in a bunch to produce more heat ( during colder months) – during warmer weather they travel to water sources nearby. They collect water and spread onto the back of bees fanning the hive with their wings. The evaporated water and constant fanning brings the temperature down in the hive so as not to overheat.

The Guards

Every kingdom has guards and bees are no different. The guards stay near the front of the hive entrance and inspect every returning bee for the familiar scent that distinguishes a resident worker. Only members of the hive can enter – although it has been observed that some guards can be bribed with pollen from outsiders for hive access – who quickly rob the hive of some honey before retreating. The guards protect the hive from invading insects, small rodents, and any other potential attacker. The honey bee has a barbed stinger – which means once it has penetrated its victim the abdomen of the bee rips off. This kills the bee that stung – but also pumps out an alarm pheromone to alert the rest of the colony of the attack.