Bees, Wasps and Hornets
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Overview
General
The Colony
Bees are generally social insects, with a marked division of labor between the various types of bees in the colony. A colony of bees includes a queen, males (drones) and workers.
The Queen
The queen is the only sexually developed female in the hive. She is the largest bee in the colony. A two-day-old larva is selected by the workers to be reared as the queen. She will emerge from her cell 13 days later to mate in flight with approximately 18 drones. During mating, she receives several million sperm cells, which will last her entire reproductive life span of nearly two years. The queen starts to lay eggs about 10 days after mating. A productive queen can lay up to 3,000 eggs in a single day.
The Drones
Drones are stout male bees that have no stingers. Drones do not collect food or pollen from flowers. Their sole purpose is to mate with the queen. If the colony is short on food, drones are often kicked out of the hive.
The Workers
Workers, the smallest bees in the colony, are sexually undeveloped females. A colony can have 20,000 to 60,000 workers.
The life span of a worker bee varies according to the time of year. Her life expectancy is approximately 21 to 35 days. Workers that are reared in September and October, however, can live through the winter.
Workers feed the queen and larvae, guard the hive entrance and help to keep the hive cool by fanning their wings across the openings. Worker bees also collect nectar to make honey. In addition, honeybees produce wax comb. A Honeybee comb is composed of hexagonal cells, which have walls that are only 2/1000 inch thick, but support up to 25 times their own weight. A bees' wings stroke 11,400 times per minute, thus making their distinctive buzz.
