Complete bee colony explained in simple terms
A bee colony is not just made up of bees, but of three subspecies, each of which has a specific task. Which species develops from an egg depends on various factors that are regulated by the bees themselves within the beehive. Only a complete people can survive.
What is a complete bee colony made of? - These are the "family members"
A bee colony always consists of three types of bees: the female worker bees, the male drones and a queen.
- If the queen lays a fertilized egg in a worker cell, it becomes a worker bee. From the third day of her existence she receives honey and pollen as maggot. After 21 days it is fully developed. It does not get older than approx. four weeks if hatched during the summer; after all, in winter it reaches an age of up to eight months. The worker bees are responsible for building the honeycombs, looking after the brood and looking after the queen. They defend the beehive from enemies and of course ensure sufficient supplies.
- The second species of bees in the colony are the drones, which are male. Your job is to mate with the young queens. You need 24 days to go from being a maggot to being a bee. They are sexually mature ten to 14 days after they hatch. A drone lives about a month. If she has fulfilled her purpose of being - the mating with the queen - she dies.
- Through special nutrition (in addition, the fertilized egg must have been placed in a so-called queen bowl), an egg or a maggot a queen bee. It takes 16 days for its complete development. A few days after hatching, she begins mating flights. She is accompanied by several drones. After mating, the eggs are laid. Depending on the type of cell in the beehive in which she lays an egg, a worker or a drone is created. A queen can live up to five years. However, the laying performance drops sharply with increasing age.
If you want to raise bees yourself
About five bee colonies are sufficient to get started. You can buy them from a beekeeper.
There are three bee-beings in a colony of Immen. It's the queen, also Weisel ...
- Be aware that beekeeping is very laborious. Especially in the period from May to July you have to give your bee colony a lot of attention and care.
- A complete bee colony brings approx. twenty kilograms of honey a year. With three bee colonies, a beginner can "produce" sixty kilograms of honey.
Beekeeping is very labor intensive. However, homemade honey is much healthier than industrially produced honey. Only a complete bee colony can survive, as this is the only way to ensure reproduction.
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