HONEY BEE

A honey bee is a eusocial, flying insect within the genus Apis of the bee clade. They are known for construction of perennial, colonial nests from wax, for the large size of their colonies, and for their surplus production and storage of honey, distinguishing their hives as a prized foraging target of many animals, including honey badgers, bears and human hunter-gatherers. In the early 21st century, only seven species of honey bee are recognized, with a total of 44 subspecies, though historically seven to eleven species are recognized.

The Best Known Honey bee

Beekeeping is very important for the environment, as well as our well-being.The Western honey bee is the best known honey bee, because they has been domesticated for honey production and crop pollination.Bee pollination is important for commercially and ecologically. Because of increasing human population, the demand for agricultural products is on the rise. Modern humans also value the wax for candle making and other crafts.As a result, the decline in wild bees increased the value of pollination. Honey bees represent only a small fraction of the roughly 20,000 known species of bees.The study of bees, which includes the study of honey bees, is known as Melittology.

Harmless / Stingless Honey bees

Some types of bees produce and store honey and have been kept by humans for that purpose, including the stingless honey bees, but only the members of the genus Apis are true honey bees. The Stingless bees are active all year round, although they are less active in cooler weather.Unlike other a social bees, they do not sting but will defend by biting if their nest is disturbed. Despite being unable to sting, stingless bees may have very large colonies made formidable by way of numerous defenders. The Stingless bees usually nest in hollow trunks, tree branches, or rock crevices but they have also been encountered in wall cavities, old rubbish bins, water meters and storage drums.The beekeeper keeps the bees in their original log hive or transfer them to a wooden box, as this makes it easier to control the hive.

Odorant Receptors (Communication / Smell)

The bees communicate with odorant receptors. Their strong sense of smell enables them to recognise the flowers they looking for food. Their sense of smell is so strong and serious that each one of the bees has 170 odorant receptors. The Pheromones play a role in the defense of the hive as well.When a worker honey bee stings, it produces a pheromone that alerts her fellow workers to the threat. That’s why a careless intruder may suffer numerous stings if a honey bee colony is disturbed.In addition to the waggle dance, honey bees use odor cues from food sources to transmit information to other bees. After performing the waggle dance, the scout bees may share some of the foraged food with the following workers, to communicate the quality of the food supply available at the location.

Why Do They Produce Honey

The honey bees are famous for delicious honey. They produce honey as food stores for the hive during winter. Luckily, these efficient little workers produce 2-3 time more honey than they need, so, we get to enjoy the heavenly delight, too!. They produce honey as food stores for the hive during winter. During the winter season, when there is shortage of flowers and the bees are unable to forage for food. In winter there are fewer flowers so less nectar. Honey is rich in nutrients, so,it is ideal food for bees and human both.

Colony Collapse Disorder

This heavenly treat is facing an unknown hazard over the past few decades. The colonies of honey bees have been disappearing. Sadly, the root cause for this, is still unknown. This honey bees’ Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) caused by the unexplained losses of managed honey bees. Which resulted in a rapid loss of adult worker bees.In certain areas the situation is so alarming that 50 to 90 % of bee colonies have disappeared. Certain pesticides are harmful to bees. That’s why we require instructions for protecting bees on the labels of pesticides that are known to be particularly harmful to bees. This is one of many reasons why everyone must read and follow pesticide label instructions.