In the UK there are 24 species of Bumblebees most of which nest in the ground. There are 225 species of Solitary Bees which don’t nest in colonies. Some of these resemble wasps, some are very small and some are specific to a particular plant e.g. Campanulas. There is only one species of Honey Bee and these are kept in hives. They evolved 120 million years ago in the Mediterranean area and are the most studied creature on earth.
The honey bees consist of drones, workers and queens. The drones are males who reproduce with a queen and guard the hive, the queen produces the eggs and the workers are all females who collect honey and pollen and look after the internal workings of the hive. The workers have large eyes with up to 1000 lenses in each eye and they also have an extra 3 eyes in the forehead which use ultra violet light. They sense where the sun is and use their antenna to sense heat, humidity and oxygen and CO2 levels. Worker bees are very hairy using their legs to collect pollen which transfers from front legs to back legs, whilst at the same time eating honey which they feed to the baby bees as Royal Jelly. They have four wings which in flight fuse together using a form of hook and eye to form two larger wings and can carry one third of their body weight in pollen. Their mandibles move from side to side to facilitate the building of cells within the hive. The workers know what types of plant to look for and are attracted by the colour of characteristics of those plants so that in April they may search for dandelions. The workers clean the hive then create cells into which the queen will lay eggs and add honey with the egg before sealing the cell with wax. Whilst the hive is being prepared the queen leaves the nest and flies out to an area with a congregation of drones from many hives, where she mates with multiple drones before returning to the hive. The queen lays up to 2,000 eggs each day.
In the UK there are 24 species of Bumblebees most of which nest in the ground. There are 225 species of Solitary Bees which don’t nest in colonies. Some of these resemble wasps, some are very small and some are specific to a particular plant e.g. Campanulas. There is only one species of Honey Bee and these are kept in hives. They evolved 120 million years ago in the Mediterranean area and are the most studied creature on earth.
The honey bees consist of drones, workers and queens. The drones are males who reproduce with a queen and guard the hive, the queen produces the eggs and the workers are all females who collect honey and pollen and look after the internal workings of the hive. The workers have large eyes with up to 1000 lenses in each eye and they also have an extra 3 eyes in the forehead which use ultra violet light. They sense where the sun is and use their antenna to sense heat, humidity and oxygen and CO2 levels. Worker bees are very hairy using their legs to collect pollen which transfers from front legs to back legs, whilst at the same time eating honey which they feed to the baby bees as Royal Jelly. They have four wings which in flight fuse together using a form of hook and eye to form two larger wings and can carry one third of their body weight in pollen. Their mandibles move from side to side to facilitate the building of cells within the hive. The workers know what types of plant to look for and are attracted by the colour of characteristics of those plants so that in April they may search for dandelions. The workers clean the hive then create cells into which the queen will lay eggs and add honey with the egg before sealing the cell with wax. Whilst the hive is being prepared the queen leaves the nest and flies out to an area with a congregation of drones from many hives, where she mates with multiple drones before returning to the hive. The queen lays up to 2,000 eggs each day.
The natural habitats of the honey bee are trees but as these create accessibility problems, humans devised ways of keeping bees. Over 4,000 years ago the Egyptians used clay pots as hives on board ships to move their bees up and down rivers to follow the changing seasons and plants. As time went on skeps or baskets were used but in order to access the honey the bees had to be smoked out and subsequently died. Eventually wooden hives were developed but beekeepers were faced with a problem that the bees would totally fill the hive and seal the doors so that they had to be prised open. In 1870 and American clergyman devised a system of frames using old champagne crates and established that the optimum spacing for the frames was 8 millimetres. These hives were further developed on the Isle of Wight using apple boxes. The hives are rectangular and were improved by William Broughton Carr with the result that all hives used in this country are sold as WBC hives and each colony of bees consists of 16-18,000 bees. These hives are layered and contain a brood box and sugar boxes to sustain the queen during the winter. During the war beekeepers were given 10lbs of sugar for the winter and a further 5lbs for spring feeding. The bees start to forage in spring and start with snowdrops and crocus which are really useful. Next come dandelions and aconites followed by blackthorn, wild flowers and rape. Lime trees are useful contributors and ivy is really useful with plants mobbed by bees. It takes 2 million flowers to obtain 1lb of honey with spring flowers producing a darker honey that later flowers. Bees are now under great threat from pesticides and viruses and really do need protection. All British honey is virus free whilst imported honey is almost sure to contain viruses that will kill our bees. It is therefore important to buy British honey, from the local area if possible, even if it is more expensive.
