The Honeybee
Apis Mellifera
The Honeybee
Apis Mellifera
Honeybees (Apis Mellifera) came to the North American with the first colonists. In the honeybee colony there is a system of castes. The single sexually mature female is fertilized by several drones during a nuptial flight. Up to 100 million sperm may be deposited during this flight with about 10 percent of the sperm stored in a special pouch for egg fertilization. She is tended to in the hive by worker bees which are derived from her fertilized eggs. Her control over the worker caste is exerted through the use of pheromones. These olfactory hormones also prevent the workers nurturing any further queens. Drones are produced from eggs that are not fertilized. The queen generally produces up to 1500 eggs/day.
You can go to any of the labeled structures by clicking on name below.
A. Compound Eye
B. Wing
C. Comb
D. Stinger
E. Bee Diseases
The proboscis of the worker bee is very flexible and allows the bee to gather the carbohydrate rich nectar from various flowers. After placing the nectar in the cells of the honeycomb, water is evaporated from it by the rapid wing action of other worker bees. This produces a very concentrated solution which is called honey. The storage cells are then capped off.
See these links for information on Honeybees.
Bee Basics: An introduction to the life cycle of the honeybee. Good illustrations of the different types of bees and stages in their life cycle.
Sounds: The WEB page that is devoted to the sounds of a honeybee in a number of different languages.
Bees and Honey: A wide range of information about honeybees.
Last updated: November 27, 2000
