We have just introduced a colony of invasive insects to our yard. While we ordinarily think of invasive species as harmful, there are actually many beneficial species that were not native to North America. Among these are honeybees.
That's right. There were no honeybees in North America before they were intentionally brought to Virginia around 1622. Incidentally, that's a year before the first of my ancestors (Edward Hilton, Dover, NH) reached North America, but let's stick to the topic of honeybees. Today there are many species and sub-species of honeybees in North America. All brought over either intentionally or unintentionally to help pollinate crops and to provide honey. The climate and biosphere were so suitable to the honeybee that they spread throughout the continent.
So accepted are honeybees that most think of them as native to our nation. When the population of this invasive species began plummeting in recent decades, there were widespread cries of alarm. Plainly, not all invasive species are harmful.
We purchased a three pound package of bees which included a mated queen bee. We introduced them into a hive and within 24 hours, we can already see that they are building combs on the starter frames that we placed inside the hive. The combs that the bees build are used for several purposes. Of course, we all know about honeycombs which are combs used by the bees to store honey. The queen bee will lay her eggs in combs as well. Not honey combs, but brood combs. Once the eggs are laid in the combs, they hatch into larvae. Larvae are fed and cared for by the worker bees until they pupate and emerge as adult bees. It takes about 21 days from the time the egg is laid until an adult bee emerges.
The main reason that bees make honey is because that is what they eat during the winter when fresh nectar is not available. They store it in the honey combs and then use it as food during the winter months. That means that if we take all the honey out of the hive, the colony will starve to death. So we need to be careful to leave an adequate supply of honey for the bees at the end of the season.
In the lower section of the hive, the queen will lay her eggs. At some point, moving upward from the bottom, there is a brood/honey dividing line with honey storage above and brood combs below. This divide makes it possible for the bee-keeper to remove honeycombs without disturbing the next generations of worker bees.
Quick Facts About Honeybees:
How do honeybees survive the winter? During the winter, honeybees will stay in the hive tucked into empty comb cells clustered around the center of the hive. Although they are cold-blooded like all insects, they group together to try to conserve what heat is available. They don't truly hibernate and may come out of the hive on particularly warm days. Even in the dead of winter, a knock on the side of the hive will result in a buzzing from within as the bees react to the noise.
What do honeybees eat? Honeybees eat nectar from flowers when it is available and honey during the months when flowers are not available. They also need water to drink and will sometimes be seen visiting birdbaths or a pet's water dish during the summer if other sources of fresh water are not available.
Why do honeybees swarm? Honeybees swarm when a hive gets too crowded and a second queen emerges from the hive. This is the natural way for honeybees to create new hives and reproduce. When a hive swarms, about half the bees will leave with the new young queen and the remainder will stay with the old queen. This leaves two small hives that will gradually build up their populations again. Beekeepers often discourage swarming because a depleted hive will produce less honey because it has fewer worker bees collecting nectar.
Are worker bees boys or girls? Everyone knows the queen bee is female, but few know that the worker bees are also female. Drones are males. The queen bee mates during the swarming flight, the drones that mate with her die, and the queen remains fertile for the rest of her life. The hive is ruled by the females and not just the queen. At the end of the summer as the weather turns colder, the female worker bees will drag the larger drones out of the hive to die. Because the drones are so much larger, they'd use up too much of the stored food during the winter.
What is colony collapse? Colony Collapse Disorder is the name given to the rapid disappearance of the majority of the worker bee population of a hive. Without worker bees, the entire hive dies. In recent years, colony collapse has become widespread vastly reducing the number of honeybees throughout the country. It affects both wild honeybees and those in domesticated hives. It is well documented that Colony Collapse Disorder is caused primarily by pesticides that contain nicotinoid compounds. Because these pesticides are commonly used on corn, and beekeepers feed their bees high fructose corn syrup (which carries the pesticide from the corn plant), beekeepers can lose their entire stock of hives in a single season. Wild bees pick up the pesticide directly from the flowers of treated crops. The link between pesticides and Colony Collapse Disorder was unknown for years, but is widely accepted now due to convincing evidence such as this 2012 Harvard Study.
Taxonomy of Honey Bees
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Genus: Apis
Species: Apis mellifera
Subspecies (for Italian Honeybees): Apis mellifera lingustica
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| Italian Honeybees, Apis mellifera lingustica Photo by Brad Sylvester, may be used only with a link back to whatlivesinmyyard.blogspot.com |
That's right. There were no honeybees in North America before they were intentionally brought to Virginia around 1622. Incidentally, that's a year before the first of my ancestors (Edward Hilton, Dover, NH) reached North America, but let's stick to the topic of honeybees. Today there are many species and sub-species of honeybees in North America. All brought over either intentionally or unintentionally to help pollinate crops and to provide honey. The climate and biosphere were so suitable to the honeybee that they spread throughout the continent.
So accepted are honeybees that most think of them as native to our nation. When the population of this invasive species began plummeting in recent decades, there were widespread cries of alarm. Plainly, not all invasive species are harmful.
We purchased a three pound package of bees which included a mated queen bee. We introduced them into a hive and within 24 hours, we can already see that they are building combs on the starter frames that we placed inside the hive. The combs that the bees build are used for several purposes. Of course, we all know about honeycombs which are combs used by the bees to store honey. The queen bee will lay her eggs in combs as well. Not honey combs, but brood combs. Once the eggs are laid in the combs, they hatch into larvae. Larvae are fed and cared for by the worker bees until they pupate and emerge as adult bees. It takes about 21 days from the time the egg is laid until an adult bee emerges.
The main reason that bees make honey is because that is what they eat during the winter when fresh nectar is not available. They store it in the honey combs and then use it as food during the winter months. That means that if we take all the honey out of the hive, the colony will starve to death. So we need to be careful to leave an adequate supply of honey for the bees at the end of the season.
In the lower section of the hive, the queen will lay her eggs. At some point, moving upward from the bottom, there is a brood/honey dividing line with honey storage above and brood combs below. This divide makes it possible for the bee-keeper to remove honeycombs without disturbing the next generations of worker bees.
Quick Facts About Honeybees:
How do honeybees survive the winter? During the winter, honeybees will stay in the hive tucked into empty comb cells clustered around the center of the hive. Although they are cold-blooded like all insects, they group together to try to conserve what heat is available. They don't truly hibernate and may come out of the hive on particularly warm days. Even in the dead of winter, a knock on the side of the hive will result in a buzzing from within as the bees react to the noise.
What do honeybees eat? Honeybees eat nectar from flowers when it is available and honey during the months when flowers are not available. They also need water to drink and will sometimes be seen visiting birdbaths or a pet's water dish during the summer if other sources of fresh water are not available.
Why do honeybees swarm? Honeybees swarm when a hive gets too crowded and a second queen emerges from the hive. This is the natural way for honeybees to create new hives and reproduce. When a hive swarms, about half the bees will leave with the new young queen and the remainder will stay with the old queen. This leaves two small hives that will gradually build up their populations again. Beekeepers often discourage swarming because a depleted hive will produce less honey because it has fewer worker bees collecting nectar.
Are worker bees boys or girls? Everyone knows the queen bee is female, but few know that the worker bees are also female. Drones are males. The queen bee mates during the swarming flight, the drones that mate with her die, and the queen remains fertile for the rest of her life. The hive is ruled by the females and not just the queen. At the end of the summer as the weather turns colder, the female worker bees will drag the larger drones out of the hive to die. Because the drones are so much larger, they'd use up too much of the stored food during the winter.
What is colony collapse? Colony Collapse Disorder is the name given to the rapid disappearance of the majority of the worker bee population of a hive. Without worker bees, the entire hive dies. In recent years, colony collapse has become widespread vastly reducing the number of honeybees throughout the country. It affects both wild honeybees and those in domesticated hives. It is well documented that Colony Collapse Disorder is caused primarily by pesticides that contain nicotinoid compounds. Because these pesticides are commonly used on corn, and beekeepers feed their bees high fructose corn syrup (which carries the pesticide from the corn plant), beekeepers can lose their entire stock of hives in a single season. Wild bees pick up the pesticide directly from the flowers of treated crops. The link between pesticides and Colony Collapse Disorder was unknown for years, but is widely accepted now due to convincing evidence such as this 2012 Harvard Study.
Taxonomy of Honey Bees
 |
| Honeybee Hive with syrup feeder Photo by Brad Sylvester, may be used only with a link back to whatlivesinmyyard.blogspot.com |
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Genus: Apis
Species: Apis mellifera
Subspecies (for Italian Honeybees): Apis mellifera lingustica
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