Talking Bees with Ag Day Students
by Zachary A. Davis, Somervell County AgriLife Extension Agent
Granbury – This past week I had the privilege of discussing bees with Ag day Students at Brawner Elementary in Granbury. This was a learning opportunity for me to gain more knowledge about the small insects that impact our way of life and are so important to the environment.
Bees are the only insects known that produce food for humans to consume. Some populations in other countries consume insects, but they do not have the production of a food source that bees do. Honey is one of the only food sources that could sustain human life; there is enough water, fats, and proteins to keep humans going.
In the Hive
Bees have a very organized colony structure. The most important bee in the hive is the queen. She controls the hive with pheromones and keeps the hive populated by reproducing 600-700 eggs a day. In some sources this number is even higher around 1000. Queens have a lot longer life span than most of the bees in the hive; they can live up to 5 years due to the rich royal jelly that they consume.
Male drone bees are the only males in the colony. They are about 5 % of the population and their only role is to help the queen produce eggs for reproduction of the hive. They don’t collect pollen and nectar, they don’t even have stingers. Once they mate with the queen they die shortly after due to the loss of vital organs during the mating process.
The last bees in the hive are the female worker bees that are the workforce of the hive. They represent 95% of the hive population. Worker bees work nonstop and never sleep. They have a short life span compared to the other bees in the hive. In the spring and summer they can live between 4 weeks to a couple months. Younger worker bees maintain the hive while older worker bees collect pollen and nectar.
Bees are responsible for the pollination of 80% of fruits, vegetables, and seeds that we consume. Recently, honey bee population has been decreasing and conservation groups have been looking into this issue.
For additional information, contact Zach Davis, AgriLife Extension agent in Somervell County 254.897.2809.