Three Diffferent Bee Species- Part One

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Hi everyone! I am going to show you the differences between three bee species. First is the amazing and extremely important Honey Bee (Apis mellifera). Honey bees pollinate much of the fruit and vegetables we eat and enjoy every day, and it is the only bee that makes honey for human consumption.

The members of the honey bee colony are as follows; the Queen who is a fertile female, the worker bees who are sterile females and the drones who are the males. The ones pictured here are the worker bees.

We need to begin with the Queen bee because she is the mother to all of the honey bees in the colony. The queen is ready to mate when she is 5-6 days old. She puts out a pheromone scent and takes to the sky. Male honey bees smell the scent and they all come from miles around to mate with her.

The queen lays approximately 2,000 eggs per day and she decides if it will be a male or female. If she fertilizes the egg, it will be a female. If she does not fertilize the egg, it will be a male. Just one colony of honey bees during peak season in mid summer is usually 60,000- 80,000 honey bees.

The worker bees, like the ones pictured here are the smallest of all honey bees. They are sterile females and they are the ones responsible for the survival of the colony. The worker bees work from sunrise to sunset, and literally work themselves to death. They process the nectar brought in by the older worker bees and feed the queen, the larvae, the drones and make the honey. They protect the queen and keep the hive cool or warm. Because they work so hard, they usually only live for 6-8 weeks and their most common cause of death is from wearing their wings out. During their short lives, each one produces an average of only 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey.

Honey Bee in flight.

What do the male drones do? They only live to mate with the queen. The ones that do mate with the queen, die. The other drones live and eat in the hive but do nothing to help. By the end of autumn, the workers kick all of the drones out of the hive.

Please be kind to honey bees and remember how important they are to us and our ecosystem.

Thanks for stopping by!

All photos are my own.

Information Source: abfnet.org, theperfectbee.com

hive-100514 insectpub natuure photography palnet
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22 comments
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I have picked your post for my daily voting initiative! Keep it up and Steem on!

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Real cool photos of honey bees. We don't have many around here any more. :((

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Thanks so much! For the past 3 years I have been seeing a big decline. So sad!

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(Edited)

Great pictures

All out sex by the male bee ... https://www.thoughtco.com/sexual-suicide-by-honey-bees-1968100

To be or not to bee, that is the question....

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Thanks! Leave it to you to find this article about bee sex. LOL!
Good question. : )

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Yay! Thanks everyone in the @c-squared community for your support! I am grateful. : )

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Just brilliant! Thank you for a wonderful experience.

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Thanks for the A+ my teacher friend! I am so happy you enjoyed it. : )

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YAY! Thanks so much for your support SteemSTEM team! I am truly grateful. : )

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Howdy Butterfly! You mean I gotta stop killin those darn things? lol...just teasing, I like bees. Those queens mature fast don't they? Start mating when they're 5 or 6 days old, dang. This was a great post and I was forced to learn new things!

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Thanks for your support Jonboy! Forced again? I hope I can keep forcing you. LOL!

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Well sometimes I'm lazy and don't feel like learning anything and then I make the mistake of getting on Steemit! lol.

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What a amazing life the female bee has tough luck for the male bee's one shag and they are dead how distraughting .... lol 😒

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HaHa! Maybe the male bees should help the colony more. LOL!

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Maybe so then the females might let them live longer...hehe 😊

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Queen Bee - more powerful and prolific than I knew. Thanks for this!
The queen lays approximately 2,000 eggs per day and she decides if it will be a male or female. If she fertilizes the egg, it will be a female. If she does not fertilize the egg, it will be a male.
#Love the part about do-nothing drones getting kicked out of the hive.

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HaHa! The drones eat their food supply so it is high time for them to stop mooching. Off you go, you good for nothing drones. : )

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