Queen Cells! Bee-Keeping!!

Hey everyone, sadly we recently had a swarm abscond.. This can be as a result of many reasons this one looks like it was swarmed by wax moths!

thumbnail_20201223_125855.jpg

The term queen bee is typically used to refer to an adult, mated female (gyne) that lives in a honey bee colony or hive; a female bee with fully developed reproductive organs, she is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive.[1] Queens are developed from larvae selected by worker bees and specially fed in order to become sexually mature. There is normally only one adult, mated queen in a hive, in which case the bees will usually follow and fiercely protect her.

The term "queen bee" can be more generally applied to any dominant reproductive female in a colony of a eusocial bee species other than honey bees. However, as in the Brazilian stingless bee Schwarziana quadripunctata, a single nest may have multiple queens or even dwarf queens, ready to replace a dominant queen in a case of sudden death.[2]

thumbnail_20201223_125906.jpg

thumbnail_20201223_125910.jpg

thumbnail_20201223_125917.jpg

During the warm parts of the years, female "worker" bees leave the hive every day to collect nectar and pollen. While male bees serve no architectural or pollinating purpose, their primary function (if they are healthy enough) is to mate with a queen bee. If they are successful, they fall to the ground and die after copulation. Any fertilized egg has the potential to become a queen. Diet in the larval stage determines whether the bee will develop into a queen or a worker. Queens are fed only royal jelly, a protein-rich secretion from glands on the heads of young workers. Worker larva are fed bee bread which is a mixture of nectar and pollen. All bee larvae are fed some royal jelly for the first few days after hatching but only queen larvae are fed the jelly exclusively. As a result of the difference in diet, the queen will develop into a sexually mature female, unlike the worker bees.[3]

Queens are raised in specially constructed queen cells. The fully constructed queen cells have a peanut-like shape and texture. Queen cells start out as queen cups. Queen cups are larger than the cells of normal brood comb and are oriented vertically instead of horizontally. Worker bees will only further build up the queen cup once the queen has laid an egg in a queen cup. In general, the old queen starts laying eggs into queen cups when conditions are right for swarming or supersedure. Swarm cells hang from the bottom of a frame while supersedure queens or emergency queens are generally raised in cells built out from the face of a frame.

As the young queen larva pupates with her head down, the workers cap the queen cell with beeswax. When ready to emerge, the virgin queen will chew a circular cut around the cap of her cell. Often the cap swings open when most of the cut is made, so as to appear like a hinged lid.

During swarming season, the old queen is likely to leave with the prime swarm before the first virgin queen emerges from a queen cell. More here as per wikipedia.org https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_bee

thumbnail_20201223_125925.jpg

After cleaning them all out, sprayed the hive off and ready for a new swarm.

thumbnail_20201223_125931.jpg

Nature the incredible!

Love and light, have an amazing weekend!

Cheer$;)



0
0
0.000
6 comments
avatar

Bees are fascinating how the arrange their life, very seldom see swarming, at one time this was quite a common occurrence.

Sorry to hear two of your hives made a move, summer time possibly you would know best, I find it interesting learning more from people in the know @craigcryptoking

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and thanks for sharing your knowledge, have you looked at #amazingnature @hive-127788 to post into, part of @dna.org

@tipu curate

0
0
0.000
avatar

They truly are incredible creatures, Merry Christmas to you too thanks Joan x Cheer$;)

0
0
0.000
avatar

Wait, did you say FOOD? Foodie is in town on #HIVE!

Yum! Your post would look great with the #foodie tag. You have been curated @anggreklestari on behalf of @FoodiesUnite. We are a tribe for the #Foodie community with a unique approach to all things food and we are here on #HIVE.

Join the foodie fun! We've given you a FOODIE boost. Come check it out at @foodiesunite for the latest community updates. Spread your gastronomic delights on PEAKD.com and claim your tokens.

Join and Post through the Community and you can earn a FOODIE reward.

Banner_followBHcommentsize.png

0
0
0.000