Beekeeping Paper

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Life as a honeybee is very exciting, there are so many interesting things that go along with their lives. All of the honeybees pass through three development stages before emerging as a full adult. They are the egg, larva and pupa (“The colony and its organization”). While the bee is an egg they basically cannot perform any functions that a bee would be able to do. All they can do is wait until they are ready to hatch and become a larva. A neat fact about eggs is that a beekeeper can always tell if the eggs are going to be male or female. He or She can look at the eggs and if they are fertilized then they are going to become female worker bees or a queen bee, and if the eggs are unfertilized then they will become male drones (“The colony and its organization”). As the website “the colony and its organization” says, “Nutrition plays an important part in the caste development of female bees; larvae destined to become workers receive less royal jelly and more a mixture of honey and pollen compared to the copious amounts of royal jelly that the queen larva receives (“The colony and its organization”). When the bee is in the stage of the larva, they are legless grubs whose meals consist of honey, nectar or pollen. They usually shed their skin and molt a bunch of times before they are finally ready to enter the pupa stage. Once in the pupa stage they just need to have one final molt before they can become an adult bee and then start to preform different task to help their bee colony. (“Honey bee colony”) Honey bee life spans vary depending on the type of bee. The queen bee, who is the most important, can live for several years. Worker bees only get to live for about six weeks, mostly living during the summer. During the winter months however, they can usually live from about four months to about nine (“Facts about honey bees”). The drone bees are the unluckiest because they only live during mating season which is in the late spring or early summer. They die soon after they have fulfilled their main task, which is to mate with the queen. (“Honey bee colony”)

The final topic is threats and ways Honeybees protect themselves. Honeybees have many ways of protecting themselves from dangers. The main dangers that beekeepers need to look out for are mainly mites and disease. Mites pose the greatest threat against honeybees. The two types of mites are varroa and tracheal. However, varroa and tracheal can be kept under control by an experienced, persistent keeper. As the website “facts about honeybees states”, “The negative effects on the honeybee population has been devastating. The Backyard Beekeepers Association surveyed its members and learned that 40% of the members hives died” (“Facts about honeybees”). If anyone is trying to be a beekeeper then he or she should try to look out for these mites, as they are very bad for the hive itself. (“Facts about honeybees”) Disease is also something that a beekeeper needs to be aware of when working with bees. These diseases are harmless to humans so no one has to worry about getting sick. The main types of disease to look for is “Foul Brood” and “Nosema”. As the website “Facts about honeybees” says, “These problems can be easily addressed by good management and proper medication” (“Facts about honey bees”). Honeybees can protect themselves or their hive in two ways; they can either group up and swarm or try to sting their enemy. When bees swarm, all they are trying to do is keep their enemies away by trying to intimidate them so they do not try to harm the nest. A swarm will attack only if they feel that it poses a threat to the hive or their queen. The same goes with a single bee stinging a human (“Honey bee colony”).

Honeybees are very interesting to learn about. Honeybees are so neat to learn about all of the different bees and their functions in their community. Beekeeping is an art it takes a lot of practice. The art of beekeeping takes tons of hard work and a ton of motivation to get it done. When the hive gets big enough it makes it all worth it to see the hive grow and it is really worth it when you get to eat the honey that all of your bees produce. The only hard part is getting the honey out. So many things can be done with honey. The hardest part is keeping up with the hive.

Works Cited

“Facts about honey bees” Backyard Beekeepers Association. N.d. Web 29 October

2015.

“Honey Bee Colony” ORKIN. 2015. Web 29 October 2015.

“Organization of a bee colony” Agriculture and Consumer Protection. N.d. Web 29 October 2015.

“The Colony and Its Organization.” MAAREC. 2015. Web. 29 October 2015.