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4LESSON
The three types of bee in a hive
Beehive basics (featuring frederick dunn)
Glossary of Beekeeping terms [TEXT ONLY]
ASSESMENT (Optional)
The three types of bee in a hive
1: Secret Life Of Bees: The Beehive
Presented by Cedar Anderson
Humans and bees have a long history together, with evidence of domestication dating back as far as 9,000 years ago. Most bee species are solitary, but the European honeybee (Apis mellifera) live in colonies of up to 50,000. These colonies contain three types or castes of bees:
- Queen
- She is the largest bee in the hive, with an elongated pointed abdomen.
- The queen lives for up to 6 years.
- She can lay up to 2,000 eggs per day, which hatch into larvae, then turn into pupae before emerging as bees.
- Workers
- These are female bees, that hatch from fertilised eggs
- They make up most bees in a colony.
- A worker bee’s tasks include foraging, nursing larvae, building comb and defending the hive.
- Drones
- These are male bees, which hatch from unfertilised eggs.
- They are relatively few in number compared to the female workers in a hive.
- They have large rounded bodies and eyes, and no stinger.
- A drone’s sole purpose is to mate with a queen during her nuptial flight.