Subject: >>>FAQ<<< Honey Bees

From: Graham & Annie Law <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 25 Apr 1996 20:00:16 +0100

This document was originally written in the UK and some of
the points are applicable mostly there.  Feel free to copy
and customize it to your country.  However please credit
the original author if utilised beyond personal use.

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FAQ's ABOUT HONEY BEES  (apis mellifera)
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BEES AND PEOPLE
        WHAT DO I DO IF I GET STUNG.. .
        IS IT TRUE THAT A BEE STING CAN BE GOOD FOR YOU.
        WHAT DO I DO IF I SEE A SWARM OF BEES
        HOW DO BEEKEEPERS CATCH A SWARM
        APART FROM HONEY ARE BEES USEFUL.
        IS BEEKEEPING HARD WORK.
        WILL I GET STUNG IF I KEEP BEES.
        A BEEKEEPER USES SMOKE TO 'CALM' THE BEES, HOW DOES THIS WORK.
        MODERN BEE HIVES LOOK BORING WHY DON'T MANY
         BEEKEEPERS USE THE TRADITIONAL LOOKING WHITE
         TERRACED HIVE.

HONEY AND OTHER PRODUCTS.
        WHY DO BEES MAKE HONEY.
        HOW MUCH HONEY CAN ONE BEE HIVE PRODUCE.
        HOW DOES THE BEEKEEPER GET THE HONEY FROM THE BEES.
        DO THE BEES MISS THE HONEY THAT IS TAKEN.
        WHY ARE SOME TYPES OF HONEY CLEAR AND RUNNY AND OTHER TYPES
        OPAQUE AND HARD.
        HOW DO BEES MAKE HONEY.
        DOES HONEY CONTAIN ADDITIVES.
        HOW DO BEES MAKE WAX.
        WHAT IS ROYAL JELLY.

BIOLOGY/ BEHAVIOR.
        WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HONEY BEES, WASPS AND BUMBLE
BEES.
        HOW MANY TYPES OF BEES ARE IN A HONEY BEE COLONY.
        WHAT DOES THE QUEEN BEE DO.
        DOES THE QUEEN 'RULE' THE COLONY.
        WHY IS THERE ONLY ONE QUEEN.
        HOW DO BEES MAKE A QUEEN.
        HOW LONG DOES A BEE LIVE.
        HOW DO THE BEES SHARE OUT ALL THE DIFFERENT JOBS IN A HIVE.
        HOW MANY BEES ARE IN A BEE HIVE.8
        WHAT CAUSES BEES TO SWARM.8
        WHAT IS BEE 'DANCING'.
        HOW DOES A BEE NAVIGATE.
        CAN A BEE SEE COLOURS.
        DO BEES SLEEP .
        HOW FAR CAN BEES FLY.
        WHY DO BEES COLLECT POLLEN.
        DO BEES HIBERNATE DURING WINTER.
        WHY DOES A BEE STING.
        WHY DOES A BEE DIE WHEN IT STINGS.
        WHAT ARE 'KILLER BEES'.

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..................BEES AND PEOPLE..................

WHAT DO I DO IF I GET STUNG.
Bees will not generally sting if unprovoked, usually the
bee has been trapped in hair or crushed.  When too close to
a be hive avoid flapping your arms and moving rapidly, if
the bees are antagonized walk away through undergrowth or
trees if possible.  If stung scrape the sting out with your
finger nail as the sting still pumps venom for some time
after the bee has left.

IS IT TRUE THAT A BEE STING CAN BE GOOD FOR YOU.
Old Beekeepers seldom suffer from arthritis or rheumatism
and in Russia bee venom is used directly as a treatment of
joint conditions. Research is ongoing.

WHAT DO I DO IF I SEE A SWARM OF BEES.
Don't Panic, bees in a swarm are almost always in a good
mood.  They can not easily sting even if antagonized as
they have gorged themselves with honey and can not get
their bodies into the best position to sting.  If the swarm
is not causing a nuisance then leave it, gradually the bees
will cluster in a bush or tree and remain there for up to 3
days. During that time scouts will be sent out to look for
a new home, the only problem may be they will choose your
chimney so put your fire/ heating on low and enjoy their
visit. If the swarm is a nuisance then the police keep a
list of local beekeepers who can help.

HOW DO BEEKEEPERS CATCH A SWARM.
A swarm is actively looking for a home, so if the beekeeper
puts a nice hive with perhaps some old honey comb in it
close to where the swarm has settled, then it is easy to
persuade them to take up residence.  Normally a few bees are
dropped into the hive and they then 'fan' their scent to
the other bees once it has been 'approved'.  It is a
dramatic sight to see a swarm 'marching' into a new hive.
Bees already in residence perhaps in an chimney or old tree
must be removed with their honey comb containing the young
grubs and the queen.  If the bees cannot be reached then
the beekeeper is helpless and the council pest control will
destroy the colony.

APART FROM HONEY ARE BEES USEFUL.
Yes very, the pollination benefit of bees is calculated to
help the economy by œ100's millions per annum. Certain
crops yield up to 25-40% more if efficiently pollinated and
farmers in some areas of the world pay beekeepers to put
hives into their fields and orchards.  In addition to
pollination bees produce wax for candles and Royal Jelly.
During the middle ages one of the most important jobs in an
Abbey was the Beekeeper, as a huge quantity of wax was
constantly required for the ceremonial candles.

IS BEEKEEPING HARD WORK.
In terms of time... about 1/2 an hour per hive per week
>from  mid April to August. In addition honey is extracted
twice a year.

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST ME TO KEEP BEES.
For the clothing and tools about œ125 and a second hand
hive with bees about œ50.

WILL I GET STUNG IF I KEEP BEES.
Yes. A few people are allergic, but most will swell for a
short time and then gradually become immune.

A BEEKEEPER USES SMOKE TO 'CALM' THE BEES, HOW DOES THIS WORK.
Bees are woodland insects and evolution has taught them to
fear fire more than anything else.  When smoke enters a
hive the bees are immediately diverted to eat as much honey
as possible as there may be a need to abandon the hive at a
moments notice.  This diverts them whilst the beekeeper
takes their home apart.

MODERN BEE HIVES LOOK BORING WHY DON'T MANY BEEKEEPERS USE
THE TRADITIONAL LOOKING WHITE TERRACED HIVE.
Although the old style (uk) hives look pleasant at the foot
of the garden there is nearly twice as many components in
their construction.  Internally the  old hive is the same
as a modern hive but are more clumsy to use. Incidently the
'old' style is  called a WBC hive after it's inventor
William Broughton Carr the most popular standard 'hobby'
hive in Britain is the 'National' hive.

.............HONEY AND OTHER PRODUCTS..............

WHY DO BEES MAKE HONEY
Honey bees are special in that they over winter as a colony
unlike wasps and bumble bees (see Biology).  The colony
does not hibernate but stays active and clusters together
to stay warm. This requires a lot of food stored from the
summer before ...honey. Although a hive only needs 20-30lbs
of honey to survive an average winter, the bees are
capable, if given the space of collecting much more.  This
is what the beekeeper wants them to do.

HOW MUCH HONEY CAN ONE BEE HIVE PRODUCE.
One hive can produce 60 lbs of honey in a good season,
however an average hive would be around 20-30lbs surplus.

HOW DOES THE BEEKEEPER GET THE HONEY FROM THE BEES.
The queen bee is kept below the upper boxes in the hive
(called 'Supers') by a wire or plastic grid which the queen
is to large to fit through (called a 'Queen excluder'). As
the bees cannot raise brood above this queen excluder only
honey is stored in the supers.  As the season progresses
the beekeeper adds more supers until the time to harvest
the honey. A special one way valve is fitted in place of
the queen excluder and gradually all the bees are forced
into the lowest part of the hive, the beekeeper can simply
lift off the 'super' boxes containing the honey comb.  The
honey is extracted from the comb using centrifugal force in
a machine called a spinner looking much like an old
fashioned upright spin dryer.

DO THE BEES MISS THE HONEY THAT IS TAKEN
No.  A strong colony can produce 2-3 times more honey than
they need.  If necessary the beekeeper can feed a sugar
syrup in the autumn to supplement for the loss of honey.

WHY ARE SOME TYPES OF HONEY CLEAR AND RUNNY AND OTHER
TYPES OPAQUE AND HARD.
The type of honey made by the bees is dependant on the
types of foliage and flowers available to the bees.  Crops
such as oil seed rape (the bright yellow fields in the
spring) produce large quantifies of honey that sets very
hard, so hard even the bees could not use it in the winter,
garden flowers tend to give a clear liquid honey.  If the
beekeeper wants to produce a mono honey ie clover, orange
blossom etc the bee hive is put out of range from other
sources.  This can be difficult for the small hobbyist and
a blend of the seasons honey is usually the result.  In the
autumn some beekeepers move their hives onto the moors to
harvest only the nectar from wild heather. Heather honey is
thought to be the king of honeys and is a clear jelly
consistency.

HOW DO BEES MAKE HONEY.
Bees take nectar which is a sweet sticky substance exuded
by most flowers and some insects (honey dew) and mix it
with enzymes from glands in their mouths.  The
nectar/enzyme mix is stored in hexagonal wax honeycomb
until the water content has been reduced to around 17%.
When this level is reached the cell is capped over with a
thin layer of wax to seal it until the bees need it. This
capping indicates to the beekeeper that the honey can be
harvested. Capped honey can keep almost indefinitely.

Perfectly edible honey comb was found in the tombs of the
pharaohs, over three thousand years old. How's that for Best
Before Dates.

DOES HONEY CONTAIN ADDITIVES.
No. The only treatment is to filter to remove any wax
debris produced during the extraction process.

HOW DO BEES MAKE WAX.
The youngest bees cluster in large numbers to raise their
body temperature.  Wax producing glands under their
abdomen slowly excrete slivers of wax about the size of a
pin head.  Other worker bees 'harvest' these wax scales and
take them to the part of the hive requiring the new wax.
Bees use about 6lbs of honey to produce 1lb of wax.

WHAT IS ROYAL JELLY.
Royal jelly is the food fed to queen bee larvae.  It is a
creamy white colour and is very rich in proteins and fatty
acids. It is produced by mouth glands in young bees.  Each
queen needs only a teaspoon of royal jelly, so as health
product it is very expensive. Many magical properties are
claimed of royal jelly however a sceptical view is
probably the healthiest, especially as products sold in
health shops can contain as little as 2% of the real
thing.

.................BIOLOGY/ BEHAVIOR......................

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HONEY BEES, WASPS AND BUMBLE BEES.

Honey Bees are the highest form of insect life, they live
in a well organised colony that does not need to
hibernate. They produce honey and store it in wax comb and
use the same hive from one year to the next.

    Typical max population 30,000 - 45,000.

Wasps start in the spring with a single queen wasp that
has hibernated under leaves or in cracks.  The queen wasp
builds a new hive constructed from paper and about the size
of a golf ball.  This hive (bice) builds up through the
summer, however no honey is stored.  In the autumn the
colony organisation breaks down, with homeless wasps
becoming an increasing nuisance around bins and rubbish.

                Typical max population 15,000.

Bumble Bees or as the UK Victorian's called them 'Humble
 bees' like wasps only the queen hibernates and survives
 the winter.  In the spring the queen bumble bee seeks an
 old mouse or vole hole and builds within it a nest of
 leaves and moss.  She construct nodular wax cells and
 incubates her young as a bird would.  As her first
 offspring hatch and begin to fly the queen increasingly
 stays within the hive to produce young. Bumble bees do
 make a small amount of honey and store it in one special
 cup like cell.  There is no more than a tablespoon at any
 time.

       Typical max population only 40-100.

HOW MANY TYPES OF BEES ARE IN A HONEY BEE COLONY.
Three types, a single queen, thousands of Workers
 (females) and in the summer hundreds of Drones (males). In
 the autumn the male Drone bees are evicted by the workers
 and die.

WHAT DOES THE QUEEN BEE DO.
The sole purpose of the queen is to lay eggs. During April
and May she lays day and night, each egg takes about 20
seconds to lay. That's over 2000 eggs a day, more than the
body weight of the queen.  The queen mates only once and
holds sufficient sperm from the male Drones to lay eggs
for 3-4 years, incidently the drone bee dies in the
process.  There are 3 types of wax cell used for eggs. In
the smallest cells (5mm diam) she lays fertilized eggs
which in 21 days produce the female worker bees. In  larger
cells (7mm diam) unfertilised eggs are laid which in 24
days become the male Drone bees, production of offspring
not requiring mating is known as parthenogenesis.  A very
special cell which hangs vertically downwards is used to
produce new queens.  A colony producing queen type cells
warn the beekeeper of an impending swarm.

DOES THE QUEEN 'RULE' THE COLONY.
No, the queen is simply an egg laying machine. The queen
 bee has a smaller brain than a worker bee.

WHY IS THERE ONLY ONE QUEEN.
It is not understood (by man) why bees will only tolerate
 one queen but any attempt to introduce a second queen
 results in her death. If a queen dies unexpectedly the
 bees are able to make an 'emergency queen' from eggs
 younger than 3 days old.

HOW DO BEES MAKE A QUEEN.
The making of a new queen is triggered usually by a
combination of conditions such as congestion in the hive
and lack of egg laying space, this cumulates in a swarm.

1.Bees construct upto 20 wax queen cells which are
        acorn like and point downwards.
2.The old queen lays fertilised eggs in each queen cell.
3.The young (nurse) bees feed the young larvae with a rich
        creamy food called Royal Jelly and extend the cell
        downwards until it is about 25mm in length.
4.None days after laying, the first queen cell is sealed with
        a layer of wax capping.
5.This is the time a large swarm (called a prime swarm) of
        bees leaves the hive led by the older bees.  The old queen
        has been starved of food to make her lighter and able to
        fly.  The older bees cajole the old queen to join the
        swarm.
6.Eight days later the first virgin queen leaves her cell.
        One of two things can now occur, either the first virgin
        queen leads a smaller swarm (called a cast) or she locates
        the other queen cells and kills her sisters by stinging
        through the wax wall of the cell.
7.About a week later the young queen makes her first flight
        to orientate her to her new surroundings.
8.The queen will shortly take several mating flights in which
        she will mate with up to 17 male bees called drones.
9.Three days later the mated queen will begin to lay
        fertilised eggs.
10.She will stay with the colony until at least the next year
        when she too may lead a prime swarm.

HOW LONG DOES A BEE LIVE.
In the summer a worker bee only lives for about 40 days.
 As no young are raised over the winter months, the workers
 born in the autumn will live until the following spring. A
 queen can live up to 5 years however for the beekeeper a
 queen is passed her prime in her third year.

HOW DO THE BEES SHARE OUT ALL THE DIFFERENT JOBS IN A HIVE.
When a bee is born it's first job is to clean out the cell
 in which she was born.  Jobs are then allocated on the
 basis of age. see fig 2

HOW MANY BEES ARE IN A BEE HIVE.
High summer about 35,000 dropping to around 6 - 8,000 in
 the winter.

WHAT CAUSES BEES TO SWARM.
A swarm is the natural way for bees to multiply and
produce new colonies.  It is normally the culmination of
queen rearing. explained above.

WHAT IS BEE 'DANCING'.
Bees need to communicate with each other to pass on the
location of food sources.  To do this bees have evolved a
unique dance language that can be understood by us.  A
worker bee returning from a rich source of food will
'dance' by running in a circle, on each revolution the bee
will bisect the circle at an angle. The angle with respect
to 12 O'clock represents the angle to fly with respect to
the sun.  If the bee ran from 6 to 12 O'clock ie straight
up, this would say 'fly directly towards the sun'.  And 7
to 1 O'clock would mean fly just to the right of the sun,
12 to 6 O'clock 'Fly directly away from the sun'.  In other
words the bees translate the angle to the sun as an angle
to the vertical.  To represent distance the bee 'wiggles'
it's abdomen whist crossing the circle, the more wiggles
the greater the distance.  So a bee will 'say' to it's
friends 'Fly over there for about a 1 mile and you will
find something that tastes like this'. Pretty smart !.

HOW DOES A BEE NAVIGATE.
As mentioned above the bees use the position of the sun
and there is evidence of sensitivity to the earths
magnetic field.  Also bees eyes are sensitive to polarised
light which penetrates through even thick cloud so they
are able to 'see' the sun in poor weather.

CAN A BEE SEE COLOURS.
Yes, their eyes are sensitive more to the blue end of the
spectrum and into ultra violet.  Flowers reflect large
amounts of ultra violet light and to a bee will be very
bright.

DO BEES SLEEP
No, but during the night most bees remain motionless
reserving their energies for the next day.

HOW FAR CAN BEES FLY.
It is possible for bees to fly as far as 4 miles for food,
however an average distance would be closer to 0.5-1 mile
>from  the hive.  A strong colony flies the equivalent
distance of to the moon every day!.

WHY DO BEES COLLECT POLLEN.
Pollen is mixed with water and to form a type of bread
which is fed to the growing larvae.

DO BEES HIBERNATE DURING WINTER.
No, bees over winter as a strong colony clustered together
and using their bodies to generate heat. This cluster is
about the size of football, the bees taking turns to be on
the cold outside.

WHY DOES A BEE STING.
A bee only stings under two conditions.
                   1.To protect the colony.
                   2. When frightened.

WHY DOES A BEE DIE WHEN IT STINGS.
When a bee stings, barbs in the lance of the sting cause
 it to firmly stick into the victim pulling out the venom
 sacs and glands when the bee is shaken off.  The venom sac
 muscles continue to pump after these organs have been torn
 from the dying bee.

WHAT ARE 'KILLER BEES'.
There is not really such thing as 'Killer bees'.  The
description hit the headlines due to events in America.
In 1956 South American beekeepers in Brazil tried to
'improve' the local strain of honey bee by cross breeding
with African bees.  The African bee was known to be a good
producer of honey, however had a reputation for aggressive
behaviour.  The resultant cross strain produced an even
more aggressive bee.  Although an individual bee has the
same sting and venom as a British bee, they are much more
easily induced to sting and chase people.  This
'Africansed' strain can now be found in some southern
American states producing the media hype of 'Killer Bees'.

........................
Authors
Graham & Annie Law
LRBK, Leicestershire, uk
[email-masked]
........................

Graham Law
[email-masked]

Winning the rat race still makes you a rat.