Bees and Beekeeping

Five. There are three simple eyes, called ocelli, in a triangle on top of the head, and two compound eyes.

The ocelli only detect the presence of light, and do not form an image. The compound eyes form an image rather like a mosaic, not a finely detailed image, but they are very sensitive to movement. A bee's colour vision extends into the ultra-violet part of the spectrum, but is less sensitive to red. Bees are also able to distinguish plane polarized light, which they use for navigation.

Please don't.

If you have honey bees near you and you want to get rid of them, contact a beekeeper or beekeeping association, and someone will come and remove them.

If you live in the UK then check out the BBKA website to find a swarm co-ordinator local to you - there is a list with contact details. they will be able to advise and assist you.

Varroa mites have specialized to feed off bees by piercing the bee's exoskeleton and sucking the haemolymph.

This is why varroa is such a pest. Bees attacked by varroa quickly become weakened, and varroa can also carry other diseases. Beekeepers and Bees will be in serious trouble if this disease enters Australia.

Hi. Actually, one of the most difficult things for any wild animal is to maintain a proper salt balance; there are relatively few good natural sources of salts and other essential minerals. MANY insects will be attracted to urine, as it contains a fair number of such substances in a concentrated form - the same basic reason that so many insects are attracted to human perspiration (and also the basis for the phenomenon known as "puddling" - well known in butterflies).

Bees can kill each other for various reasons, such as competition for resources, territory, or mating opportunities. In some cases, bees may also engage in aggressive behavior to defend their hive or queen from intruders or outsiders. Additionally, in a colony, worker bees may eliminate weaker or diseased individuals to ensure the overall health and survival of the hive.

Bees go through four stages of development: egg, larva, pupa, and adult.

Worker bees-which live about five weeks in the summer-make wax from about the 10th day of their lives to the 16th. When workers are roughly 10 days old, they develop special wax-producing glands in their abdomens. They eat lots of honey. The glands convert the sugar in the honey into wax, which seeps through small pores in the bee's body leaving tiny white flakes on its abdomen. These bits of wax are then chewed by the bees. The chewed wax is added to the construction of the honeycomb. The cluster of bees means the hive temperature stays at around 35 degrees Celsius, which keeps the wax at just the right consistency-it's not too hot to be drippy and not too cold to be brittle.

A typical honey bee hive can house anywhere from 10,000 to 60,000 bees, depending on the time of year and the strength of the colony. This population includes worker bees, drones, and the queen bee.

A swarm or a colony - a hive is the name of their home.

Bees will reuse the honeycomb, though a beekeeper may change the comb every year, replacing it with fresh comb foundation. By doing this the beekeeper can harvest the wax, and bees have fresh comb every year which reduces the likelihood of disease and pests building up in the comb.

If you shake/threaten their nest, they will attack. If you threaten one directly by trying to hit and missing, it will attack. Do not squish one with your hand, as its dying effort will be to sting you.

Honey bees are a type of bee, so honey bees are not bigger than bees in general. Honey bees are a social species that live in large colonies and are known for their importance in pollination and honey production.

A bee's "dance" is an instinct. They are born knowing how to do it. The "dance" communicates to other bees, showing them the way to fly in order to find the flowers that the other bee has found. The queen is not the one dancing, because she is busy laying eggs. The drone bees are the ones who fly out looking for pollen, and who "dance."

The angle between the direction the 'dancing' bee is facing while vibrating its abdomen and the vertical position equals the direction to the new nectar source from the hive with respect to the sun. The duration of the waggle also gives the distance. Bees are aware of the movement of the sun during the day, so can compensate for this when using it for navigation.

Yes, bees typically reuse the same hive for several seasons. The hive serves as their home where they store honey, raise their young, and communicate through intricate dances. Bees continuously maintain and protect their hive to ensure the survival of their colony.

Bees move by flying using their wings. They can also walk on the ground or on surfaces using their six legs. Bees can travel long distances in search of food sources.

Yes, bumble bees excrete waste in the form of uric acid, which is released from their bodies. This acts as a way for them to eliminate excess water and nitrogen waste.

No, bees are not cold-blooded. They are classified as ectothermic, which means they rely on external sources of heat to regulate their body temperature. Bees can generate their own body heat through muscle activity, but they still require warmth from the environment.

Yes. In fact domesticated bees were originally woodland insects.

Bees have the ability to distinguish colors, they have a trichromatic color vision, so bees can see the three primary colours of UV, blue and green (they can't see red though) in the way that humans detect red, blue and green.

When bees go off to collect nectar, they are attracted to colours of flowers which act as signals for them about the type of flower colours that provide more or less nectar. They will favour certain colours over others, this means that if they have found yellow flowers to provide more nectar they're more likely to visit yellow flowers. There have been many experiements carried out that prove that bees can see colour and many have trained bees successfully to favour certain colour over others. you should read about the work carried out by Von Frisch early 20th century which prove this, and many that followed after that.

Some bumble bees hibernate, but honey bees don't. However, bees won't leave the hive if the air temperature is too low (below about 14oC/57oF), so if spring is late or cold this will delay the bees' emergence.

A bee's sense of hearing is located in the Johnston's organ, which is located in the bee's antennae. The Johnston's organ detects vibrations in the air, allowing bees to perceive sounds and communicate with each other through buzzing and other sounds.

Bees have two large compound eyes made up of many smaller lenses called ommatidia, allowing them to see ultraviolet light as well as colors in the visible spectrum. They have good color vision and can see polarized light patterns in the sky to navigate. Bees also have a small number of simple eyes on top of their heads called ocelli, which help them detect changes in light intensity.

Bees make hexagonal honeycomb cells because it is the most efficient shape for storing the most honey using the least amount of wax. The hexagonal shape allows for cells to be tightly packed together, maximizing storage capacity while minimizing material usage. Additionally, the angles of the hexagon provide structural stability to the honeycomb.

They drink nectar... I don't think they eat.. but they will get dehydrated quick for their size.. About a day or two..

Yes, bees do defecate. They typically do this outside the hive to keep their living environment clean. The waste substance they excrete is called meconium, which is the leftover material from their development as larvae.