Honeybees

The Honeybee is an amazing creature who develops a society where everyone has a defined purpose with the ultimate goal of taking care of one another and perpetuating the cycle of life. They work tirelessly, mind their own business, do no harm unless threatened and don’t even realize how much they benefit others while maintaining the balance of life for their colony.

Bee Factory:  

The efforts of the Honeybee produce 5 beneficial products:

• Honey

• Beeswax

• Pollen

• Propolis

• Royal jelly 

These products are critical to their survival and sustainable beekeepers harvest these products in such a way as to benefit the bee’s first and mankind second. 

 The bees do all of this without realizing the additional benefit they provide mankind in the form of pollination; it is estimated that 70% of the food we eat exists because of bees.

The Colony:

Within each healthy honeybee colony there is a Queen, Worker Bees and Drones.

The Queen sets the tone and nature of the colony, communicating with her own personal scent (pheromones). This is how her Honeybees tell her apart from other colonies and why they keep returning to her. She is the only bee that can lay eggs and on a good day can lay 1000. While laying she is deciding if the egg will be a female Bee or a male Drone. The Nurse Bees decide if the female eggs will be a Worker Bee or a replacement Queen and it's what they feed the larvae that determines the new bees' eventual role.

At its peak, a healthy hive can have up to 40,000 bees in residence. The total life cycle of a Worker Bee during the spring/summer months is a scant 35-45 days. 

The Worker Bees are female and do all the work.  In the first stage of life (21 days) a Worker Bee cannot fly nor sting and are called hive bees. They have various jobs within the hive like cleaning and keeping the brood warm; feeding larvae and the Queen;  making or repairing honeycomb, packing pollen and nectar; guarding the entrance; fanning to dry the nectar which they cap as honey, and managing the hive temperature.  

In its second stage of life (14-24 days) the Worker Bee emerges from the hive, flying in a repetitive figure eight until their internal GPS is set before heading out to forage for nectar and pollen; collecting water and propolis. They communicate about the location of pollen and nectar by doing a “waggle dance” and excreting pheromones.

Pollen is a source of protein for the bees and is used to make bee bread and royal jelly.  The bread feeds the baby bees while the royal jelly is for the Queen. The nectar is converted to honey which is the bee’s food and energy source. Propolis is a sticky substance made by the bees and used to seal the hive protecting the colony from nature’s elements.

The honeycomb is made from a waxy substance produced by bees (beeswax) and it’s the foundation and life blood of the hive; it’s used to house their brood, store nectar, honey, pollen and water.  Without it they would have no place to replenish their numbers. 

Drones are the only males in the hive and their only job is to fly out and mate with other virgin queens.  (They will not mate with their own queen.) Drones do not have a stinger and are eventually kicked out of the hive in the fall.

In Canada, through the late fall and winter, the Worker Bees live a longer life because their one job becomes keeping the hive healthy and warm. The inner temperature of the hive, specifically the cluster around the Queen, has to remain at 35° Celsius. The bees maintain this temperature by sealing up the hive with propolis, eating honey for energy and fanning their wings.

Stings:

Commonly Honeybees don’t sting unless they or their hive are threatened.  Once a Worker Bee stings, they die, so they don’t do this without first thinking of how their death could affect the colony.  The older the bee; the stronger the sting.

Whereas, Wasps or Hornets live after they sting and they do so when fighting for food.  Honeybees don’t cotton to human food but Wasps and Hornets do and aggressively take their share.  Honeybees are often mistaken for Wasps and blamed for damage they have not created.

Threats:

 The most prevalent threats today are man, mites and wasps.

Mankind:

• Bees can live without man but mankind cannot live without the bee. 

• And yet mankind is the bee’s most serious threat.  Many take the Honeybee for granted and commercially manipulate the effort and bounty of the honeybee so far they are “wiping out” this very small creature that feeds them. 

• For several years and around the world Honeybee colonies have been suddenly collapsing, thousands and thousands of hives at a time, in one single event die.  Scientists are linking the decline of the species to the prevalence of mega crops covering thousands of acres - the pollination of these mega crops and the pesticides used to increase food production.  Sadly to some, a Honeybee colony is expendable and can easily be replenished.  

• More and more commercial honey is being adulterated in order to keep the honey smooth and clear in an effort to substantially increase the volume of supply and increase consumer shelf appeal.  Most consumers are not aware that adulterated honey can still be marketed as “pure honey”. This commercially reduces the value of the honey and makes it hard for organic beekeepers to make a living while perpetuating healthy Honeybees and maintaining the balance of give and take.

 “We believe as backyard beekeepers we have the opportunity to balance the scale in favour of the Honeybee by giving back a little of what mankind takes, one colony at a time.” 

 Varroe Mites:

• Mites live and feed on the Honeybee affecting the bee throughout its life cycle causing multiple health issues including brood death, wing deformity and the eventual collapse of the colony. 

 Wasps:

• These Yellow or Black Jacket predators kill and feed on the Honeybees and their honey. Wasps can wipe out a Honeybee hive in a day or two, depending on their numbers. 

Swarming:

Swarming is essential to the bees’ survival, a function of reproduction and comes naturally to them.  If you see a swarm of bees, stay calm and help others to do the same, leave the hive alone while finding an experienced Beekeeper to collect the swarm and prevent it from being destroyed.

It is a misconception that swarming bees are angry when in truth they are calm, filled with honey and focused on keeping their queen safe.  Many swarms are destroyed because of this misconception and we hope to prevent further decimation of the species through education. 

Report a swarm:

• Delta BC:  If it’s the middle of a work day call Urban Bees at (604) 364-1993 or email swarm@richmondbeekeepers.ca

• Other Areas of BC: Google your local beekeeping association. If they are not in your area, choose the closest one you can find, they will know who to call.

 It’s a Beekeepers job to help prevent their colonies from swarming by creating happy colonies with lots of room for growth, but sometimes no matter what we do, nature takes over and the bees still swarm. Beekeepers recapture a swarm by selecting out the queen, placing her in a new hive and allowing time for the rest of the bees to follow. This new home will be placed in another location a good distance from their previous hive to prevent the bees from swarming again.