Honeybees: Sexes and Castes by Chris Ragg. Castes In any honeybee hive, there are three different...
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Transcript of Honeybees: Sexes and Castes by Chris Ragg. Castes In any honeybee hive, there are three different...
Honeybees: Sexes and Castes
by Chris Ragg
Castes
• In any honeybee hive, there are three different castes of bee: Queen, Drone, and Worker.
Castes
• In any honeybee hive, there are three different castes of bee: Queen, Drone, and Worker.
Workers
• The worker bees make up the majority of the hive.
• If you’ve ever been stung by a honeybee, it’s been a worker.
• They’re the ones who go collect the pollen and nectar that make honey.
• All workers are female.
Workers
Notice all the pollen that’s stuck to the bee’s torso. That’s how she’ll transport it back to the hive!
Queens
• The queen is the most important bee of the hive, because she lays all the eggs.
• As brood, worker bees can be made into queens by eating lots of lots of Royal Jelly, which is secreted from the heads of worker bees. Weird!
• Sometimes, queens will lay up to 2,000 eggs per day!
• The queen is the longest bee in the hive, and has a little black jewel just behind her head.
Queens
Ain’t she beautiful?
Drones
• Drones are the only males in the hive.• Drones are also the only honeybees that don’t
have stingers.• The drones are essentially male concubines for
the queen—they exist only so a virgin queen can have sex with them.
• If food stores get low, sometimes worker bees will drag the drones outside and let them die, rather than feed them their precious remaining honey.
Drones
• The drone is bigger than the worker bees around him but, without a stinger, considerably less harmful.
• Drones are, in a way, the outcasts of the hive.
Of course, all three kinds of bees are necessary for a hive to thrive and, if possible, reproduce and split into a second hive.
Thanks for Reading!
Checking out one of my hives
Harvesting Honey