Who's Home in the Beekeeping Hive?

The beekeeping hive is the factory of the honey-making process. It is also home for hundreds to thousands of bees from the same colony.

To be successful as a beekeeper you have to understand the bees' home. Why do they return to the same hive if there are multiple hives around your area? Why is their heart in that one hive? What are they doing in that hive...they don't wear hats so they aren't simply hanging out. Why are they accepted in one hive but driven out of another?

The Queen is the Heart

The hive is the center of life for the bee colony. The center of the hive is the queen bee. Keeping her fed, bred, and happy is the sole purpose of the bees of the colony. Why? That's just how they are genetically wired. The queen is generally the actual mother of most if not all of the bees of the colony. For reasons still not totally understood, the young queen larva is heavily fed royal jelly which is a protein rich secretion produced in the glands on the heads of regular worker bees. Through some genetic process unknown to man, the young queen larva receives an exclusive diet of royal jelly in preparation of her future queen status.

The Worker Bee...Not Exactly Hanging Their Hats

In the honey bee society, the worker bee is a female bee that does not have the reproductive capability of the colony's queen bee. The primary responsibilities of the worker bee include:
1. Gathering pollen that is used for food for the larvae in the hive.
2. They sense the heat or coolness of the hive and use the beating of their wings to raise or lower the temperature in the brood area of the hive.
3. They suck up nectar through their proboscis which is mixed in their stomachs with enzymes that are then stored in wax cells and later evaporated into honey.
4. In the heat regulation process, if they sense the temperature is too warm, they will collect and then deposit water in the hive and then use the fanning of their wings to cool the brood area.
5. They clean, defend and repair the hive.
6. They are the "waiters of the bee restaurant" as they feed the larva, the queen, and the drones.
7. They assist with the air circulation --- cooling and heating of the hive.

Guard Bees...If you smell right you can come in.

Bee colonies are arranged into groups of bees that have specialized responsibilities. One group of these specialized bees is the guard bees. There are three different guard bees: soldier bees, entrance guard bees and outside guard bees.

Soldier bees are the stinging, fighting bees. They immediately attack any intruders in response to the alarms raised by the entrance and outside guard bees. Entrance guard bees are stationed at the entrance of the hive and allow only bees that have the correct odor to enter the hive. Any bee not smelling right is attack by the soldier bees. Outside guard bees are the air force of the bee colony. They are the Air Force of the hive and patrol the airways around the hive; signaling the soldier bees if any foreign bees enter the airways. These "enemy" bees are then attacked by the soldier bees and driven off or killed.

So there you have it...home sweet home of the honey bee...the hive. If only we as humans had the capability of learning how to be as productive, organized, and well-disciplined as the bees.


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