The bees are insects measuring about fifteen millimeters long and form colonies composed of a single fertilized female (Queen), several sterile females (workers) and a lot of male (drone). These tiny creatures usually live in tree holes or human- developed hives.
The bees, producers of both wax and honey, constitute the Anthophil group, from the family known as Apoidea. There are, according to experts, about 20 thousand identified bee species, which are located on all continents, except Antarctica, and feed on pollen and nectar.
They have a pollinating character, since they are responsible for transferring pollen from the male organ of flowers (known as the anther) to the female organ (that is, the stigma), which enables the fusion of the male gamete with the female ovum. It should be noted that the first flower pollinators were not bees, although over the years they have become the most efficient, but beetles and flies.
Bees are raised by humans to obtain honey, a sweet substance that they produce from the nectar they collect from flowers, from plant fluids, or from the excretions of other insects. Bees capture these elements, mix them with an enzyme present in their saliva called invertase, and keep them inside the combs. There they reach maturity and are transformed into honey, the extraction of which is carried out through the technique known as beekeeping.
The reproduction of these animals takes place through eggs, which are deposited in compartments called alveoli. From the eggs that are fertilized, female bees will hatch and later become workers; from which they are not fertilized the males arise. The larvae that will become the queens of the hive, on the other hand, are fed with royal jelly; the rest ingest porridge made with pollen and honey.
Workers, drones and queens
The workers live about 45 days and are in charge of carrying out all the tasks that make up the organization of the hive. According to the life time, his responsibilities are changing. In the first four days, their job is to clean the hive and the alveoli. Then, until day 11, your job is to nurse and feed the actual larvae. For the next three days you should store the pollen and nectar and ventilate and maintain humidity and temperature in the hive by flapping your wings. Then, until day 17, as their wax-producing glands have already developed, their job is to build the combs. From the 18th to the 21st she is a sentinel and must guard the entrance to the hive. The rest of the days he is in charge of collecting pollen and nectar, and of bringing food to the rest of the colony.
The drones are not more than 100 (against 70,000 that can be the workers), they are round, fat and furry. They are not able to feed themselves, so the workers are responsible for feeding them; They also lack a sting, so they do not even protect the hive. Their only job is to impregnate the queen, and some don’t even make it. Furthermore, once they have done so, the queen guts them; those who manage to get out of the hive alive irretrievably perish. If they try to return, they are kicked out by the guards as they are considered useless mouths to feed.
Per litter, there are several larvae that could become queens; however only one will succeed. The first real bee that is born has the mission of killing the rest; in other words, eliminate competition. In the event that two queen bees are born at the same time, a fight to the death will begin. After six days, the one that has emerged victorious will undertake a single nuptial flight, in which it will be fertilized by around ten drones and then return to the hive. From then on, your task will be to lay eggs throughout your life, which lasts between 4 and 5 years. It should be noted that the queen is the only bee that has reproductive capacity. In addition, it is responsible for secreting a chemical called pheromone, which, being licked by the rest of the bees, transmits the necessary information to know how the work of the hive should be organized.
