version 1/97 author's email at end of doc.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT HONEY BEES (UK)
1. BEES AND PEOPLE
1.1. WHAT DO I DO IF I GET STUNG.
1.2. IS IT TRUE THAT A BEE STING CAN BE GOOD FOR YOU
1.3. WHAT DO I DO IF I SEE A SWARM OF BEES
1.4. HOW DO BEEKEEPERS CATCH A SWARM.
1.5. APART FROM HONEY ARE BEES USEFUL.
1.6. IS BEEKEEPING HARD WORK.
1.7. HOW MUCH WILL IT COST ME TO KEEP BEES.
1.8. WILL I GET STUNG IF I KEEP BEES
1.9. A BEEKEEPER USES SMOKE TO 'CALM' THE BEES, HOW DOES
THIS WORK.
1.10. MODERN BEE HIVES LOOK BORING. WHY DON'T MANY
BEEKEEPERS USE THE TRADITIONAL LOOKING WHITE
TERRACED HIVE.
2. HONEY AND OTHER PRODUCTS
2.1. WHY DO BEES MAKE HONEY
2.2. HOW MUCH HONEY CAN ONE BEE HIVE PRODUCE.
2.3. HOW DOES THE BEEKEEPER GET THE HONEY FROM THE BEES.
2.4. DO THE BEES MISS THE HONEY THAT IS TAKEN
2.5. WHY ARE SOME TYPES OF HONEY CLEAR AND RUNNY AND OTHER
TYPE OPAQUE AND HARD.
2.6. HOW DO BEES MAKE HONEY.
2.7. DOES HONEY CONTAIN ADDITIVES.
2.8. HOW DO BEES MAKE WAX.
2.9. WHAT IS ROYAL JELLY.
3. BIOLOGY/ BEHAVIOUR
3.1. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HONEY BEES, WASPS
AND BUMBLE BEES.
3.2. HOW MANY TYPES OF BEES ARE IN A HONEY BEE COLONY.
3.3. WHAT DOES THE QUEEN BEE DO.
3.4. DOES THE QUEEN 'RULE' THE COLONY.
3.5. WHY IS THERE ONLY ONE QUEEN.
3.6. HOW DO BEES MAKE A QUEEN.
3.7. HOW LONG DOES A BEE LIVE.
3.8. HOW DO THE BEES SHARE OUT ALL THE DIFFERENT JOBS
IN A HIVE.
3.9. HOW MANY BEES ARE IN A BEE HIVE.
3.10. WHAT CAUSES BEES TO SWARM.
3.11. WHAT IS BEE 'DANCING'.
3.12. HOW DOES A BEE NAVIGATE.
3.13. CAN A BEE SEE COLOURS.
3.14. DO BEES SLEEP
3.15. HOW FAR CAN BEES FLY.
3.16. WHY DO BEES COLLECT POLLEN.
3.17. DO BEES HIBERNATE DURING WINTER.
3.18. WHY DOES A BEE STING.
3.19. WHY DOES A BEE DIE WHEN IT STINGS.
3.20. WHAT ARE 'KILLER BEES'.
1. BEES AND PEOPLE
1.1. 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 close to a
bee hive avoid flapping your arms and moving rapidly, if
the bees are antagonised 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.
1.2. 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.
1.3. WHAT DO I DO IF I SEE A SWARM OF BEES
Don't Panic, bees in a swarm are universally in a good
mood. They can not easily sting even if antagonised 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.
1.4. 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.
1.5. APART FROM HONEY ARE BEES USEFUL.
Yes very, the pollination benefit of bees is calculated to
help the economy by millions of pounds 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.
1.6. 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.
1.7. HOW MUCH WILL IT COST ME TO KEEP BEES.
For the clothing and tools about 100 uk pounds and a good
second hand hive with bees about; 35-50 uk pounds.
1.8. 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 more immune.
1.9. 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.
1.10. MODERN BEE HIVES LOOK BORING. WHY DON'T MANY
BEEKEEPERS USE THE TRADITIONAL LOOKING WHITE
TERRACED HIVE.
British National (standard) Hive
Although the old style 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. Incidentally the
'old' style is called a WBC hive after it's inventor
William Broughton Carr and the most popular standard
'hobby' hive in Britain is the 'National' hive.
2. HONEY AND OTHER PRODUCTS
2.1. 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 20-30
lb. 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.
2.2. HOW MUCH HONEY CAN ONE BEE HIVE PRODUCE.
One hive can produce 60 lb. of honey in a good season,
however an average hive would be around 20-30 lb. surplus.
2.3. 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 then 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.
2.4. 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.
2.5. 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 i.e. 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 has a clear jelly
consistency.
2.6. 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. This
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. >>>>
<<< Hows that for Best Before Dates. >>>>>
2.7. DOES HONEY CONTAIN ADDITIVES.
No. The only treatment is to filter to remove any wax
debris produced during the extraction process.
2.8. 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 6 lb. of honey to produce 1 lb. of wax.
2.9. 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.
3. BIOLOGY/ BEHAVIOUR
3.1. 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
35,000-50,000.
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 10,000.
Bumble Bees or as the 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 40-60.
3.2. 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 early
autumn the male drone bees are evicted by the workers and
die.
3.3. WHAT DOES THE QUEEN BEE DO.
The major purpose of the queen is to lay eggs. During
April and May she lays day and night, each egg taking about
20 seconds. 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
3-5 years, incidentally the drone bee dies in the process.
There are 3 types of wax cell used for eggs. In the
smallest cells (5mm diameter) she lays fertilised eggs
which in 21 days produce the female worker bees. In larger
cells (7mm diameter) 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
warns the beekeeper of an impending swarm. See 'QUEEN
MAKING' below... A healthy queen bee is continually
emitting pheromones (a bee perfume) that only the bees in
the hive can smell. These pheromone odours tell the bees
in the colony that the queen is still with them and all is
well in the hive. This chemical pheromone communication is
quite sophisticated and the personality of a bee hive
will change if the beekeeper changes an old queen for a
young one. In this way a beekeeper has some control over
the temper and enthusiasm of a colony.
3.4. 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. >>>>>
3.5. 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.
3.6. HOW DO BEES MAKE A QUEEN.
The making of a queen is triggered usually by a combination
of conditions such as congestion in the hive and lack of
egg laying space, this culminates in a swarm, see below.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< QUEEN MAKING & SWARMING >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
i. Bees construct up to 20 wax queen cells which are
acorn like and point downwards.
ii. The queen lays fertilised eggs in each queen cell.
iii. The young (nurse) bees feed the young queen larvae
with a rich creamy food called Royal Jelly, and
extend the cell downwards until it is about
25mm in length.
iv. Nine days after laying, the first queen cell is
sealed with a layer of wax capping.
v. This is the time for 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.
vi. Eight days later first virgin queen leaves her cell.
Two things can now occur, either the first virgin
queen leads a smaller swarm from the hive (called
a cast) or she locates the other queen cells and
kills her sisters by stinging through the wax wall
of the their cells.
vii. About a week later- the young queen takes her first
flight to orientate her to her new surroundings.
viii. The queen will shortly take several matting flights
in which she will mate with up to 18 male bees called
drones.
ix. Three days later the mated queen will begin to lay
fertilised eggs.
x. This queen will stay with the colony until at least
the next year when she too may lead a prime swarm.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
3.7. 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.
3.8. 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 table
Days Old Duties of Worker Bees
1-2 Cleans cells and keeps the brood warm
3-5 Feeds older larvae
6-11 Feeds youngest larvae
12-17 Produces wax,
Builds comb,
Carries food.
Undertaker duties
18-21 Guards the hive entrance
22-on Flying from hive begins,
Pollinates plants,
Collects pollen, nectar and water.
3.9. HOW MANY BEES ARE IN A BEE HIVE.
High summer about 40,000 dropping to around 5,000 in the
winter.
3.10. 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 see 3.6
3.11. 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' on the vertical comb surface 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 i.e. 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 !.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< OTHER AMAZING DANCES >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
BEES KNOW THE WORLD IS ROUND.
During swarming similar dancing
occurs to pass on information about a
possible new home. This can go
through the night, so without the sun
what do the bees use?. The answer is
they dance at angles calibrated to the
sun on the other side of the world!.
Bees knew the world was round about
25 million years before man!.
THE SCHAFBERG EXPERIMENT .
An interesting experiment known as
the Schafberg experiment (named after
the mountain) demonstrates the
sophistication of bee navigation. The
only source of food for a colony of bees
was put on the far side of a mountain,
the bees could not fly over the
mountain only around it. What
direction would the bees indicate in
their dancing?. The answer was
surprising, the bees indicated the
direction exactly across the mountain
an angle they had never flown but had
calculated in their head. The distance
indication however, was for the long
flight around the hill.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
3.12. 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.
3.13. 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. Bees are totally red blind.
3.14. DO BEES SLEEP
No, but during the night most bees remain motionless
reserving their energies for the next day.
3.15. HOW FAR CAN BEES FLY.
It is possible for bees to fly as far as 5 miles for food,
however an average distance would be less than a mile from
the hive.
<<<<<< A strong colony flies the equivalent distance >>>>>>>
<<<<<<<<< of to the moon every day!. >>>>>>>>>>>
3.16. WHY DO BEES COLLECT POLLEN.
Pollen is mixed with water and to form a type of bread
which is fed to the growing larvae. .
3.17. DO BEESHIBERNATE 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.
3.18. WHY DOES A BEE STING.
A bee only stings under two conditions.
1. To protect the colony.
2. When frightened.
3.19. 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.
3.20. WHAT ARE 'KILLER BEES'.
This over dramatic description hit the headlines due to
events in America. Research work carried out by the
Brazilian government in the 1950s, trying to improve the
local strain of honey bee by cross breeding with African
bees went wrong. The African bee was known to be a good
producer of honey, however had a reputation for over
defensive behaviour when protecting its colony. The
experiment was supposed to contain the African bees and
prevent them from spreading however some swarms did escape
and thrived in the forests of Brazil. The resultant cross
strain produced an aggressive bee compared with the native
bee and has gradually spread outside Brazil and through
other South American countries including Mexico. This
'Africansed' strain can now be found in some southern
states of the USA producing the media hype of Killer
Bees'. 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.
Hope you found this interesting, best wishes
Graham & Annie Law 97 email: Graham@gandboss.demon.co.uk
Graham Law
GCLaw@gandboss.demon.co.uk
Leicestershire
(about 100miles north of London)
UK
"I see no future in the cathode ray tube"
John Logie Baird
1929