Due to the
profound interests in backyard beekeeping, join beginner apiarian; Lorraine
Glowczak, as she shares her discoveries on her new adventure of keeping
honeybees in this monthly series article. Part 2.
As I prepare for my Italian honeybees’
(Apis Millifera) arrival, I am developing a new repertoire of words and my
vocabulary is quickly expanding. And yes, I have been asked by many and before
the question crosses your mind, I am learning Italian. But that is in
preparation for my trip to Italy in the fall and not for the bees themselves.
There are, however, two types of
languages a new apiarian might consider. First is the everyday beekeeping
terminology to be well-informed and successful. There is also the secret coded
language of bee communication. To become well versed in the honeybees’ private
exchanges to include specific flight patterns, dances, certain noises and even
smells, one needs to have spent significant time with the bees themselves.
Since my sweet Italians have not arrived and I have yet to be exposed to that
form of private dialogue, I will share a few new terms that, with a brief
explanation, have promptly become a part of my everyday lexicon.
•
The Queen Bee. The single
reproductive female in the hive and that is specially selected by worker bees
when she begins life in the larvae stage by being feed a rich nutritious meal
called “royal jelly.” About a week after
she emerges from her cell, the virgin queen leaves the hive for a date with a
drone bee, or two, or fifteen or more (technically known as “mating flights.”)
Once the dates are complete, she returns to the hive and begins to lay
fertilized eggs within 48 hours. She is treated like royalty, with the worker
bees cleaning up after her and offering the food she needs to keep laying
fertilized eggs, about 250,000 per year. The Queen Bee can live up to 1 to 2
years.
•
The Worker Bee. I speculate the
term “busy bee” comes from this sexually undeveloped female. She certainly is
one busy bee and much is expected of her. She must feed and care for the queen,
do the housekeeping, handle incoming nectar, guard the entrance to the hive,
and forage for nectar, pollen and water The worker bee lives about six weeks
during the summer months whereas those that are born in the fall can live up to
six months.
•
The Drone. The male bee’s main
purpose is to mate with a virgin queen, and once mated, will die soon after.
Although an important part of the family, drones usually spend little time in
the hive as they fly to drone congregation areas to potentially mate with a
queen during the hotter part of the day. They have no stinger and do not eat
from flowers, relying on the workers for their food. They live up to four
months.
•
The “Nuc”. Pronounced “nuke” and
otherwise known as the nucleus colony, is one way to begin a new hive of bees with
a new queen bee. It is a fully functioning but much smaller hive with queen,
workers of all stages, drones, eggs, larva and capped brood.
•
Packages. Another way to begin a
new hive of bees. The package, a screened wooden box, includes a queen and
approximately 10,000 worker bees. They are either shipped to you by the post
office, UPS, or from a local supplier. Packages are easy to install and the
colony tends to be slow in its growth, allowing for a learning curve of the new
apiarian. I will be receiving my package bees from Cooper’s Charolais Farm and
Apiary here in Windham.
•
Supercedure – I have accidently
used the term supercedure and swarming interchangeable but there is a
difference. Supercedure is what occurs when the Queen Bee is no longer laying
eggs as expected. Realizing this, the worker bees begin preparing for a new
queen to replace the seemingly retiring queen. Once the new queen is born, the
newly hatched queen will kill the elder queen, her mother, and becomes the new
reigning royalty.
•
Swarming – The hive is beginning
to get crowded and once again, the worker bee develops a new queen. In the
meantime, the current queen bee decides to leave the hive and about ¾ of worker
bees follow her to create a new hive. Several conditions need to be present for
a colony to swarm, a good nectar flow, a strong colony, crowded hive, the
ability to raise additional queen cells.
For more information regarding the above
terminology, please visit the websites below.
http://www.glenn-apiaries.com/beginning_beekeeping_package_bees.html
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