The Hive!(…and various colony activities)

February 28, 2014

Inside Activities: Tending to Cells

• Cell cleaning starts within a few hours of birth– Prepares cells for eggs, pollen, and honey– Remove debris and old cocoons

• Fresh wax or propolis (“bee glue”)• Capping cells with beeswax and propolis– Honey caps– Brood cell caps

Inside Activities: Tending to Other Bees

• Tending to the brood– “Royal jelly” produced

by specific glands– Switch to honey,

nectar, and pollen (“bee bread”)

• Tending to the queen– Queen’s retinue– Transmission of

pheromones

Inside Activities: Comb Building

• Bees between 12-18 days old develop wax glands• Combs are separated by two “bee spaces”• Combs are slanted slightly upward• Hexagonal shape is compact and eliminates

spaces in between cells• Queen cells are suspended vertically and found at

the bottom of combs– Indicates a colony is preparing to swarm

Inside Activities: Nest Homeostasis and Ventilation

• Incubator bees generate heat in their thoraxes• Bees fan their wings near the entrance to pull

warm air out of the hive– Maintain 50% humidity andconstant temperature– Evaporate water and moisture

Outside Activities: Flight

• Orientation flights for young bees• Drone flights to establish mating areas• Foraging flights in search of pollen• Robbing flights when nectar stores are low• Cleansing flights

Outside Activities: Foraging• “Dances” are used to communicate the location of food

– Dr. Karl von Frisch received the Nobel Prize for discovering this!– Clues include the bee movements, vibrations in the comb,

samples of the provisions, released chemicals• Occurs at a specific “dance floor” near the hive entrance• Round dance: circular pattern saying food is 160-330 feet

away• Wagtail dance: figure-eight pattern saying food is over 330

feet away– Includes comb vibrations, frequency of waggles, and number of

waggles

Outside Activities: Bee Bearding

• Vacating the hive decreases the internal temperature

• Beekeeper should increase ventilation by adding supers

• Clustering of bees outside the front face of the hive during hot weather• Occurs when bringing in water isn’t enough

to cool the hive