The Queen, Pollen, and Nectar of Honeybees

In this article, you will learn all about the Queen, Pollen, and Nectar that honeybees produce. You’ll also discover the importance of the Bee sting and the Queen’s role in our ecosystem. If you’ve ever been stung by a honeybee, you should know how to protect yourself. This information will help you recognize a honeybee if you happen to encounter one. Hopefully, this article will make your next encounter with a honeybee an enjoyable experience.

Bee sting

While honeybees rarely sting when they are far from their hives, they can still sting if they feel threatened. Bee stings are painful, and can cause nausea or vomiting. They can even kill if repeatedly stung. The danger of a bee sting is much greater in children than in adults, so it’s best to avoid them. Here are some ways to protect yourself.

If you have been stung by a bee, the most important thing to do is to find a closed environment as soon as possible. You should not attempt to run toward more people, and you should not try to hide under a rock or in a hole. Also, you should avoid taking off your clothes, as this increases your skin’s surface area and may result in more stings. Sweating at bees can aggravate the insect and cause a larger attack.

Pollen

The dietary composition of honeybees is largely dependent on the pollen it collects. The honeybees collect pollen from various plants based on the number of larvae and adult bees in the colony. Their preferred pollen source is Trifolium repens, while they also collect pollen from Erigeron annus, Coreopsis drummondii, and Oenothera biennis flowers. The Trifolium pollen contains the highest total protein content.

Microbes are also found in the pollen of honeybees, although the microbial composition is not entirely clear. In one study, researchers manipulated the pollen source and found that the conspecific source was the better microbe supply. Another study manipulated the pollen source and found that the microbial composition of the pollen had a significant effect on the larval performance. The impact was similar for both conspecific and heterospecific-sourced pollen.

Nectar

The ripening process consumes around 40% of the energy from the nectar. Because this process is so energy-intensive, it has no obvious ecological benefit. The honeybees rely on ambient air and insolation to obtain the energy they need for ripening. However, nectar desiccation has been shown to reduce the yield of honeybee colonies by as much as 85%. This is a major problem in many parts of the world.

Bees are able to evaporate water, but they cannot evaporate other volatile substances. Hence, nectar and honey contain significantly lower levels of Fe, Zn, Cu, and Cd than do feces. The results also indicate that removal of Pb from the nectar has no significant effect. However, removal of Pb during processing had no significant impact on Pb content, indicating that this element is eliminated through bee feces.

Queen

The female honeybee is also known as the queen. These bees have two ovaries and one spermatheca. Each ovariole can produce a limitless number of eggs. The spermatheca contains up to seven million sperm and takes two to four years to produce fertilized eggs. Queen honeybees commonly lay around 1,500 eggs per day. Egg production can vary significantly depending on the season, availability of open cells, abundance of pollen, and disease or pests.

Workers capped the cell where the queen was laying eggs. The virgin queen chewed a circular cut in the cap of the cell, which swings open like a hinged lid. The old queen is likely to leave with the prime swarm during swarming season. The queen will never lay eggs in a dirty honeycomb cell. Workers also play an important role in the direction of the colony. Workers take charge of daily activities such as laying eggs.

Invertebrate enemies

There are many invertebrate enemies of honeybees. Crab spiders and orb-weaver wereps are two of the most common adult bee enemies. Vespid wasps, also known as beewolves, are a major threat in Africa. Many of these species can completely destroy an entire hive in a single attack. Various vertebrate insectivores also feed on adult bees. Honeyguide birds, which eat bee comb and honey, are another common threat in Africa.

Researchers have found that sub-lethal injection of honeybee venom decreased the concentration of endogenously present substances in the organs of mice. Some of these invertebrate enemies are responsible for causing the decline in honeybee populations. Research on the impact of these pests on bee colonies has begun. To understand these invertebrate enemies, we must first understand their behavior and how they influence honeybee colony health.

Life cycle

While queen bees live for only a few months, it is unknown how long workers live. Bozina, 1961, and Page and Peng (2001) report a maximum lifespan of eight years. In hives, lifespan differences between queen and worker bees have received relatively little research attention. The queen bee has a longer life than workers, and worker bees are exposed to greater extrinsic mortality due to accident and predation. However, a different hypothesis suggests that there are large differences in intrinsic patterns of aging in queens and workers.

Queen bees lay eggs in individual cells inside honeycomb. Queens contain over 5 million sperm cells, and after a single mating flight, they lay eggs throughout their lives. Fertilized eggs develop into female worker bees; unfertilized ones become male drones. As a result, queen bees must lay a sufficient number of fertilized eggs to support the colony.