Career Changes for the Honey Bee and the Role of the Drone

Good Morning Sunshine!

The Honey Bees Career Its a Wo-mans World

The honey bee changes her occupation numerous times during her short life span. Upon birth, the female bee enters the hive as a worker bee, then for a period of about 2 weeks her principal occupation is nursemaid to the queen, the drones (males) and larvae. It is a very demanding job since a single larva may eat up to 1,300 meals a day!

As the female bee gets older (by middle-age), the next job is in production — honeycomb assembly. The bee begins producing wax from glands on the underside of her belly which she uses for building honeycombs. Read more

Tagged: Bee Civilization

Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

Beekeeping in Ancient Egypt

The earliest methods of beekeeping (apiculture) are recorded on the walls of ancient Egyptian tombs. Sugar was unknown in the region and Egyptians had to rely on honey to sweeten their breads, cakes, beer, and wine. Egyptians captured wild bees and created hives out of baskets made from reeds. The reliefs from Egyptian tombs show hives stacked on top of one another, similar to today´s beekeeping practices. Beekeeping was a migratory occupation; Egyptian Beekeepers loaded the basket hives onto small boats that sailed along the Nile in search of blooming flowers. Read more

Tagged: Bee Civilization