Honey bees live in colonies. Total population is very tengantung colonies of honey bee species. European honey bee population 10000-100000 superior individuals per colony. Local honey bees 20,000-40,000 individuals per colony. Total population is also highly dependent on the quality and potential of the queen bee. The ability of queen bees lay eggs each are not the same, depending on the strain, queen rearing procedure (maintenance), and the breeding program (breeding).
In honey bee colonies known three castes, the queen bee, drones 200-300, and the rest of the worker bees.
Each 2.5 cm2 nest cells contain five worker bees and drones four cells.
A. Queen bee
Of all the inhabitants of the hive, the queen bee has the greatest shape and weight of most sll below. Size double queen bee worker bee. 2.8 times the body weight of worker bees. Abdomen length. Smooth and curved sting. This sting is only used against another queen bee.
Queen bee immune to all diseases because of feed consumed daily is royal jelly.
1. Queen Bees function
Only one queen bee in a hive, and no king. If there are two, both will be fighting over the position of queen of queens. His job spawn continuously for mengebangbiakkan new bees. Throughout his life the queen bee never leaves the nest. He only lived to spawn.
The queen bee is the only bee laying lifetime. He is laying machine to ensure the preservation of bee colonies. He lay eggs that will become worker bees, bee janta, and sometimes the queen bee. Sex Eggs determined by several things, including room, food, climate or weather, and the queen bee behavior.
2. The mating time
Experienced the queen bee mating only one time in his life, namely early maturity. Estrus period bees mostly virgin at the age of 21 days from egg cells inhabit the nest. Mating takes place when a virgin queen bees aged 23 days. It was in the spermateca (sac vagina) it contained a liquid that can receive sperm from drones. If within five days after becoming adult queen bee does not accept spermatozoa, the liquid will be solid.
At the time perkawainan, who was a virgin queen bee would choose one among hundreds of male bees are the most powerful to marry her.
3. Mating Competition
Honey bee mating season usually takes place in May, June, and July. Marriage took place very unique. Virgin queen bees are still not willing to marry drones more than one tail. Because many prospective partner, he made a flying contest. Winner drones that can fly right to marry her following her. Mating takes place in a state fly in the open air. Finished mating, they both fell to the ground.
At the time of the queen bee drones marry, regardless sperm sac and left in spermateca queen bee. Male bees die. About four hours later drones sperm sac is released, then the queen bee can fly into the air again to establish a second marriage.
After returning kesarang about 1.5 hours later drones sperm sac removed. If in spermateca his sperm are not enough, the queen bee will hold his third marriage.
The queen bee then have started laying eggs within 2-3 days after mating. New parent will spawn together dengna elderly parent in the nest, but usually not long kemudain elderly parent will disappear.
Once sperm male bees into queen bees body, sperm that can fertilize an egg so much for years for the queen is still alive. This can happen because the sperm cells drones are millions of numbers stored in a tool bag contained at the end of the fallopian queen bee. Through the egg would be fertilized, the sperm sac. Later, the eggs will hatch into females loebah perfect (future queen bee) and the females are not perfect (the prospective worker bees). Eggs that are not fertilized will hatch into drones. Sex determination is the amount of space actually dipengeruhi by hatching (cell nests), available feed, the attitude and the nature of the queen bee, the climate, the fertilization with sperm.
Not necessarily during the fly-breeding queen bees obtain high fertility, especially if he is only a little collecting spermatozoa. If it can not lay many eggs, he failed as a good queen.
4. Life In The Nest
After mating, the queen bee will stay for life in the nest, having gnagguan unless damaged or disturbed the nest of other beings. If it remain fertile throughout their lives and be able to spawn any prospective bee sex, queen bees are considered successful. If spermatozoa in egg sac out, it produces eggs male bees alone. This happens when the queen bee has old or young queen bee in her marriage failed.
5. Productive egg-laying
Egg production may reach 1,500-2,000 eggs a day. This means that every 50 seconds bee queen produces an egg. Achievement in order to survive spawning, it requires high-quality proteins of worker bees. If less feed, egg production was reduced as well.
Queen bees produce two kinds of eggs, fertile eggs that produce the worker bees and the queen bee, and infertile eggs that produce drones. Both types of eggs it seems the same. The resulting eggs are eggs most prospective worker bees. Eggs candidate drones produced at the beginning of the spawning season and move ahead in limited quantities.
Prospective worker bee eggs laid in cells smaller than egg cells separately candidate drones. Cells which produce the male bee larvae have more concave hood candles and deeper than the female bee larvae cells.
Three days after placed in the cell, the eggs hatch into larvae. The larvae do not have wings or legs, and looks like a caterpillar. Feed so much so that it grows quickly. In a short time his body has filled the cell.
By the time the larvae enter the pupal phase, the worker bees close the cell door shut. In it remarkable change is happening. Pupal body shape changes little by little. Wings and legs start to grow. Once the process is complete metamorphosis, adult bees emerge from pupae in the form of the bee has been perfect.
6. Prospective egg queen
Prospective queen larvae raised in a special cell-dependent down perpendicular to the direction of the nest. Queen bee larvae are born in situ given special attention and special feed from worker bees, which is always packed with royal jelly or dairy queen. Larvae were reared to replace the queen who died or stopped laying eggs, or no colonies ready to continue the descent to fly in groups so that the new queen is needed to replace the queen left suspended.
7. Age Very High
Scarlet queen bee. Her figure beautifully. He was able to live thirty times longer than worker bees. His life lasts 3-7 years to produce eggs about one million eggs. Third year spawning ability starts to decline. If it appears the new queen bee, queen bee is split off and form a new colony.
Day and night around the queen bee nest for empty cells. When you get a blank cell, curved stomach into the cell, then rotate a little, he would lay an egg on top of the basic cell. Eggs attached to the base of the cell as well.
Both the poor colony depends on the queen because she is the only bee in the hive together with other members. The queen bee is sterile (not terkawini), his life did not last long.
Queen bee queen bee will be replaced with a new one if it is not able to spawn or die. It could also be the new queen bee who is an adult (married) soon broke away from the old queen bee to form new colonies elsewhere to take part nester consisting of drones and worker bees.