Life Cycle of Bees2/21/14

Initiation of Hive

Bees have yearly cycle Winter die-off Become active in spring Peak late summer/early fall▪ Queens mate

If virgin, queen mates and searches for hive site once fed enough

Builds wax honeypot, fills with pollen and honey, and starts colony

Finding/Caring for the Queen Usually found on or near frames

containing eggs Attendants/retinue Queen excluder Don’t leave super open for too long Make sure queen is present and

laying

Brooding

Eggs are laid near the honeypot in a pollen ball

Broods over them until hatching About 4 days

Grubs/Pupae

Eat pollen Not too much else Then -> cocoon

Silk + poop After about 5 weeks,adult bees!

Workers

Female Differentiate various tasks

Hive building/maintenance Foraging Guarding

Workers live for about 4 weeks But do a lot in the meantime

Laying Males

Once colony is up and running, queen starts laying males Unfertilized eggs

Once queen starts laying males, she lays no more workers Only queens and drones -> sign of the

end phase of the colony Due to switching on/off of

pheromones, workers ovaries develop and can lay males

Role of Males

Really, not too much

Mating Incubate young? Once they leave

the nest, they are gone for good

Laying Queens

Caste determination Pheromones

If receives no worker pheromones and enough food, emerges from final pupal stage as queen Just continuation of worker

development Laid during emergency,

supercedure, or swarming

Mating Queens emerge after

males, go forage Attracted by

chemical secreted by male Patrol circuits Waits for suitable

partner Queens mate only

once

Queen Hibernation

Finds spot after mating Stores up on nectar to survive the

winter Honey Stomach

Hibernates through winter Glycerol as anti-freeze Can be 6-9 months

Colonies also overwinter Bee ball