Beekeeping theory course - bee biology - 2015 11 16

Biologie der Honigbiene

Biology of the Honey Beesapis mellifera


theoretical cours biology of the honey bees_2015 02 24 Andreas Reichart

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Systematic Classification• Kingdom: Animalia

• Phylum: Arthropoda

• Class: Insecta

• Order: Hymenoptera

• Family: Apiidae

• Genus: Apis

• Species: Apis mellifera


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Bee in amber

age ca. 50 millionen years


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External structurhead thorax abdomen

fornt leg hind legmiddle leg

front wing

hind wingcompound eye

antenna

mandible

spiracles

tergum

sternum

sting

ocellus

tongue



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Build and organisation• Insects have an exoskeleton, an external skeleton that

supports and protects an animal's body• Exoskeletons contain chitin; the addition of calcium

carbonate makes them harder and stronger.Intersegmental membrane gives flexibility.

• The segments of the body are organized into three distinctive but interconnected units:• head• thorax• abdomen


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Head, antenna and mouth

antenna

Ocelli compound eye

mandiblemandible

maxillamaxilla

glossalabial palpus

worker queen drone

labrumfossa

external anatomy of the head


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Mouth and tongue

mandible

proboscis



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The main organs of a bee



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Worker bee mouth


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Thorax

• Main task: lokomotion• appendage three pair of legs• appendage two pair of wings• inside powerful muscle to fly


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WingFrontwing

Hind Wing hooks (hamuli)

fold



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wingfront wing

hind wing

hooks

fold

wing vein


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Leg

front leg (A, B and C)

C: details of antenna cleaner

middle leg (D and E)

hind leg (F, H and G)


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Hind leg



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Pollen collecting


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Abdomen

• biggest part of the body• contain organs for digestition and sexual

organs


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Bee sting



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Bee sting

lancet witch barbs

lancet with poison sac and bulb

theoretical cours biology of the honey bees_2015 02 24 Andreas

Reichart

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Alimentary canal

An - anus

Vent - ventriculus(midgut)

Prvent - Proventriculus

Rect - rectum

rp - rectal pad

Int - intestine

Mal - malpighian tubules

Cr - crop

Oe - oesophagus

Ephy - epipharynx

Mth - mouth

Cb - cibarium

Phy - pharynx


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Tracheal system spiracles

spiraclestrachea



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Hemolymph and Heart

brain

honey stomachaorta

oesophagus

heartmidgut

ganglianeural node

nerv cord

upper diaphragm

lower diaphragm

suboesophagealganglion

convoluted loop

ventral nervcord

pericardial chamber


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Nervous system

• sense organs– eyes– odour- and tasteorgans– hearing- and equilibribum sense

• glands– exokrine glands– endokrine glands

theoretical cours biology of the honey bees 2015 02 24 Andreas Reichart

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Compound eye

Ommatidium

lens

cornea

crystalline cone

axon

rhabdom

hair



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Ommatidium

• Abbreviations:Axn - axonbMb - basement membraneCgCl - corneagenous cellCn - crystalline coneLn - lensPgCl - pigment cellRetCl - retinal cell9RetCl - ninth retinal cell

Rhb - rhabdom


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Mosaic Picture

How bees see

beehuman


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Olfactory - and odour organ

• Olfactory- and the odour organs are located on the antennae

drone worker bee



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Glands

wax glandsworker bees

nasanov glandworker bees

salivary gland

hypopharyngealgland

mandibulargland

postcerebral glands

tergal glandsqueen

venom glandqueen

Dafour glandqueen andworker bees

Koschevnikov glandquee and worker bee

worker queen drone

glandHypopharygeal gland existing

bee milkrudimentary not existing

Postcerebral gland bigWax, solve sugar and crystallized honey

big?

rudimentary, small?

Salivary gland big big big

Madibular gland existingSolvent of wax, pollen und propolis

very bigproduction of Pheromon I and IIvolatile

small

Wax gland existing not existing not existing

Nasanov gland existing not existing not existing

Dafour gland existing existing not existing

Koschevnikow gland existing?

existingPheromon used in swarms

not existing

Tergal gland not existing existing not existing

Comparison of the glands


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Honey bee colony• The life of a honey bee colony is perennial. There are three castes of honey bees:

long-living queens( up to 5 years), which produce eggs, short-lived workers (in

summer 35 days; in winter up to 200 days), which are all non-reproducing females

and drones, males whose main duty is to find and mate with a queen. The queen lays

eggs singly in cells of the comb. Larvae hatch from eggs in three to four days. They

are then fed by worker bees and develop through several stages in the cells. Cells are

capped by worker bees when the larva pupates. Queens and drones are larger than

workers and so require larger cells to develop. A colony may typically consist of tens

of thousands of individuals.

• Social community with intensive division of labour and intensive communication.



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Castes of honey bees

Queen Drones Worker bee


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From the egg to the adult


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Eggs and larves

larvae

egg


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queen worker drone

larve

puppae

eeg 3 3 35 6 7

8 12 14emerge after…

„3-5-8 and the queen is ready-made!“


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Worker bee emerging from cell

from wikipedia


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Worker beePeriod Work activity

Days 1-3 Cleaning cells and incubation

Day 3-6 Feeding older larvaeDay 6-10 Feeding younger larvae

Day 8-16 Receiving nectar and pollen from field bees

Day 12-18 Beewax making and cell building

Day 14 onwardsEntrance guards; nectar, pollen, water and propolis foraging; robbing other hives



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Work activity regulated by glands

days after emergage

duties glands activity

bee in the hive

1. to 3. day clean combs: cleans broodcells, which have been released recently

3. to 12. day feeding the larvea or new queens larvae

hyphopharynx gland produce royal jelly

12. to 20. day 1. produce honey

2. produce wax

3. protect the hive: entrance guard

hypopharynx gland produce enzyme to produce honeywax glands achieve maximum size

poison gland is filled with poison

flying bee 20. to death bee collects: nectar, pollen, water and propolis


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Queen• Characteristic

Larger than a worker bee (2cm), long abdomen with well developed ovaries. No pollen basket. Lancet of the sting with less barbs.

• Lifecycle5 to 6 days after the emerge the queen gets sexually mature. At the age of 6 to 10 days she flies to special places where lots of drone wait to mate her. This is called nuptial flights. At the end of these nuptial flights (max. 3) her spermatheca is filled with about 5 mio. sperms. These sperms are enough for the rest of her life.

• Oviposition3 to 5 days after she was mated, the queen will lay eggs. Queens typically lay 200,000 eggs in a year. The queen bee is able to control the sex of the eggs she lays. The queen lays a fertilized (female) or unfertilized (male) egg according to the width of the cell. Drones are raised in cells that are significantly larger than the cells used for workers. The queen fertilizes the egg by selectively releasing sperm from her spermatheca as the egg passes through her oviduct. The young virgin queen has a limited time to mate. If she is unable to fly for several days because of bad weather and remains unmated, she will become a "drone layer." Drone-laying queens usually signal the death of the colony, because the workers have no fertilized (female) larvae from which to raise worker bees or a replacement queen.

Development of a new queen from egg to ovipostion last minimum 25 days.


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QueenShe is continuously surrounded by worker bees who meet her every

need, giving her food and disposing of her waste.



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DronesDrones are the male bees within a colony. Drones can be distinguished from workers and queens by their large size, rectangular abdomens, large conspicuous eyes, and noisy flight. All drones lack a sting, and have more eye facets than a worker.

Lifeciclebetwen march and july emerge 1000 to 2100 drones per colony.

• Drones result from unfertilized eggs. They emerge 24 days after the egg is laid. Drones are capable of extracting honey four days after emergence, but prefer to be fed by workers. Unlike workers (sterile females), drones can fly well, don't gather food for the colony, don't clean, don't secrete wax, and do not care for young. The role of the drones is largely to fertilize new queens. A group of drones follows each virgin queen on her early flights. Several males will mate with each virgin queen while flying, dying immediately after mating since his reproductive organs and the end of his abdomen break off, temporarily plugging the end of the queen's reproductive tract and abdomen

• Assuming all goes well, drones typically live for about 50 days. If there is a fertile female in residence, the workers may withhold food from the drones or gnaw off the drones' wings and legs. By fall, all of the males and male larvae are evicted from each colony.


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Determination


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Reproduction• nuptial flight and mating



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Nutrition of the honey bees

• pollen

protein 5,9%-36%lipide 1%-19%vitamine/enzymemineral nutrientskarotinoideflavonoide

• nectar/honeydewcarpohydratewater

• water


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Food requirements

• food sourcebloom with nectar and/or pollen; honeydew

• provisionscarbohydrate as honeypollen as stored pollen

• water economyBienenbrot in Wabenzellen


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Lifecycle


theoretical cours biology of the honey bees_2015 02 24 Andreas Reichart46

Reasons of swarming

swarm

development of theHypopharygeal gland

and wax glands

colony development

bee race

unkownfactors ???

age of the queenspace in hive

weather

honey yield

internal factors

external factors

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Queen cell

quenn cup

larvae is emerged,she will get a lot of royal jelly from the hypopharygeal gland.

nine days after egg laying the queen cell is capped.

After 16 days the new queenemerges.With the serrated mandibulashe sliced the queen cell.


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Seasonal cycles of activities in honey bee colonywinter (November – Dezember)

• In cold climates, honey bees stop flying when the temperature drops below about

10 °C (50 °F) and crowd into the central area of the hive to form a "winter cluster".

The worker bees huddle around the queen bee at the center of the cluster, shivering

to keep the center between 27 °C (81 °F) at the start of winter (during the broodless

period) and 34 °C (93 °F) once the queen resumes laying. The worker bees rotate

through the cluster from the outside to the inside so that no bee gets too cold. The

outside edges of the cluster stay at about 8–9 °C (46–48 °F). The colder the weather

is outside, the more compact the cluster becomes. During winter, they consume their

stored honey to produce body heat. The amount of honey consumed during the

winter is a function of winter length and severity, but ranges in temperate climates

from 15 to 25 kg



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Seasonal cycles of activities in honey bee colonyspring (Februray-April)

• During early spring, the lengthening days and new sources of pollen and nectar

stimulate brood rearing. The bees also gather water to regulate temperature and to

liquefy thick or granulated honey in the preparation of brood food. The colony needs

now the most honey! Drones will be absent or scarce at this time of the year.

• Later in the spring, the population of the colony expands rapidly and the proportion of

young bees increases. As the population increases, the field-worker force also

increases. Field bees may collect nectar and pollen in greater amounts than are

needed to maintain brood rearing, and surpluses of honey or pollen may

accumulate).


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Seasonal cycles of activities in honey bee colonysummer (May-Juli)

• As the days lengthen and the temperature continues to increase, the cluster expands

further and drones are produced. With an increase in brood rearing and the

accompanymg increase in adult bees, the nest area of the colony becomes crowded.

More bees are evident at the entrance of the nest. A telltale sign of overcrowding is to

see the bees crawl out and hang in a cluster around the en trance on a warm

afternoon.

• Combined with crowded conditions, the queen also increases drone egg laying in

preparing for the natural division of the colony by swarming. In addition to rearing

workers and drones, the bees also prepare to rear a new queen. A few larvae that

would normally develop into worker bees are fed a special gland food called royal

jelly, their cells are reconstructed to accommodate the larger queen, and her rate of

development is speeded up.


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Seasonal cycles of activities in honey bee colonyautumn(August-Oktober)

• In the fall a reduction in the amounts of nectar and pollen coming into the hive causes reduced brood rearing and diminishing population. Depending on the age and egg-laying condition of the queen, the proportion of old bees in the colony decreases. The young bees survive the winter, while the old ones gradually die. Propolis collected from the buds of trees is used to seal all cracks in the hive and reduce the size of the entrance to keep out cold air.

• When nectar in the field becomes scarce, the workers drag the drones out of the hive and do not let them return, causing them to starve to death. Eliminating drones reduces the consumption of winter honey stores. When the temperature drops to 57°F, the bees begin to form a tight cluster. Within this cluster the brood (consisting of eggs, larvae, and pupae) is kept warm-about 93° F – with heat generated by the bees. The egg laying of the queen bee tapers off and may stop completely during October or November, even if pollen is stored in the combs. During cold winters, the colony is put to its severest test of endurance. Under subtropical, tropical, and mild winter conditions, egg laying and brood rearing usually never stop.



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Waggle dance• distance information• compass information• give them a taste of

the nectar


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Social communiction• trophylaxis• harvesting workers

presenting their „goods“

• if there are interested workers in the hive, they inform those (waggle dance) and so they can recruit many workers


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Literature• https://agdev.anr.udel.edu/maarec/• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_bee• http://www.bbka.org.uk/• http://honeybee.drawwing.org/• http://cyberbee.net/index.php/• https://www.polarization.com/bees/bees.html• The anatomy of the honey bee; R.E. Snodgrass, 1910• Der Schweizer Bienenvater, 2003

Beekeeping theory course - bee biology - 2015 11 16

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