A large peanut shaped queen cell. This photo is from last summer, as of now we are on the lookout for queen cells because it means the bees have either lost their queen or are ready to swarm.
Bees have a highly structured social system so every
bee has a job and purpose. Some are cleaners, some gatherers of nectar,
pollen, propolis, some tend the young, become sentries or soldiers and
I could on and on.
All working bees are female, the only purpose a male bee, called a drone, has, is to mate with a domestic or wild queen. By the way once a queen is impregnated she will have all the necessary sperm for the rest of her life which is about 3 years.
Drones are groomed, fed and babied by female nanny bees with special foods to make them big, strong and kind of dopey, smart girls considering they are almost twice the size of females.
Though while in the hive they lead an easy life but there is a catch...in the fall when the weather turns cold they are neglected and unceremoniously dragged out of the hive and left to die, this though sounding cruel is done in order to conserve resources and allows workers to concentrate on protecting and keeping the queen warm and well for the winter months. This is extremely important because if the queen dies during the winter the hive will die as well. I lost two of my hives last winter because of this.
Amazingly creatures that they are, sometime after mid winter when the queen begins to lay again the workers will feed the emerging larva foods which either turn them into male, female or new queens depending on the hive's need.
All working bees are female, the only purpose a male bee, called a drone, has, is to mate with a domestic or wild queen. By the way once a queen is impregnated she will have all the necessary sperm for the rest of her life which is about 3 years.
Drones are groomed, fed and babied by female nanny bees with special foods to make them big, strong and kind of dopey, smart girls considering they are almost twice the size of females.
Though while in the hive they lead an easy life but there is a catch...in the fall when the weather turns cold they are neglected and unceremoniously dragged out of the hive and left to die, this though sounding cruel is done in order to conserve resources and allows workers to concentrate on protecting and keeping the queen warm and well for the winter months. This is extremely important because if the queen dies during the winter the hive will die as well. I lost two of my hives last winter because of this.
Amazingly creatures that they are, sometime after mid winter when the queen begins to lay again the workers will feed the emerging larva foods which either turn them into male, female or new queens depending on the hive's need.
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