Honey Bees Social Structure & Organization in The Villages, FL; Roles of Bees in a Hive

Floridians are doing what they can for the dwindling honeybees. Where the Africanized bees seem to cause the most trouble in the area, the honeybees are the most beneficial and they have a truly incredible social structure. We at Pest 911 would like to take the opportunity to relate the fundamentals of the honeybee’s social structure.

Roles of Bees in a Colongy

A colony of honeybees is fascinating. There can be up to 30,000 members in a single colony, and each member within the group has a specific function. These insects are well organized. Certain bees are born specifically for breeding, other gather the nectar, some maintain the hive, where others process the nectar. To increase the productivity of their hive-mates, the tiny workers have communication tools.
Queen Bee: The purpose of the queen is to populate the colony, as she is the only sexually developed female in the colony. A queen can lay up to 1,500 eggs per day during the peak production of spring and early summer, but only produce few eggs but from mid-October through the winter months. The queen is longer than the other, particularly during egg laying season. Though the queen can live for about 5 years, she only has about until about the age of 3 for productivity though.
Reproduction: The queen produces pheromones that unites the colony in addition to performing her reproductive role. The bees must select a new queen from worker bee larvae when the queen dies, becomes lost or is removed. As she is provided large quantities of food, the queen candidate is hung vertically on the surface of the comb. Eventually, the queen will emerge and after a few days she will leave the hive to mate. To prevent inbreeding, the queen will fly far enough away to mate with a drone from another hive. With several drones who have recognized a queen from the pheromone odors she releases, the mating is done high in the air. She will be replaced by a new queen once she is unable to lay any more eggs.
The Drones: During the mating season, drones are the most actively present. Among the colony members, they are the largest. Their primary purpose is to fertilize the eggs, so they do not have a stinger, pollen baskets, or wax glands. About a week from emerging from their cells, drones become sexually mature. To prepare them for their one-way mating missions, they depend on the workers to provide large quantities food. After finding the queen bee, they mate and die instantly.
Worker Bees: Worker bees are the most populated within the colony. To perform their duties in and out of the hive, they are equipped with brood food glands, scent glands and pollen baskets. Worker bees clean the hive, feed the brood, care for the queen, and guard the hive. The colony is supplied with the nectar, pollen, and plant sap they forage. In lieu of a healthy queen, the workers also help populate the colony. Performing a waggle dance to direct their team members to areas where flowers are plentiful and laden with pollen and nectar, is how worker bees communicate. A source of endless fascination and a model of teamwork is the source of a honeybee colony.

Stinging Insect Control

The professionals of Pest 911 are readily available to relocate beehives and remove wasp nests from your property should any type of bee or flying stinging insect such as wasps or hornets build their nests near your home or business.