A History of Honey Bees

From recent genetic studies of European honey bee, Apis mellifera, originated in Africa and spread into Europe by at least two ancient migrations. The migrations resulted in two European populations that are geographically close, but genetically quite different. In fact, the two European populations are more related to honey bees in Africa than to each other. Thats right the honey bee that we know and love is not native to the Americas. The honey bee was introduced into the Americas as early as 1622 by European settlers. The American Indians call the honey bee white mans flies. Lets think about how difficult it must have been to move a honey bees to America in the 1600s.
Bees in the hive consist of the these three types.

The queen is the only sexually mature female in the colony. She can lay as many as 1500 eggs per day. Her body is long, because of a much larger abdomen. Her mandibles, or jaws, contain sharp cutting teeth, whereas her offspring have toothless jaws. The queen has a curved, smooth stinger that she can use repeatedly. The average lifespan of the queen is one to three years.

Drones are male honeybees. They are stingless, defenseless, and unable to feed themselves. Their one function is to mate with the new queens. After mating, which always takes place while flying, a drone dies shortly afterwards. A queen mates only once in her life with 6 or more drones. The sperm remain viable in a special sac in her abdomen throughout the life of the queen. Drones are prevalent in colonies of bees in the spring and summer months. As fall approaches, they are driven out of the nests or hives by the workers and left to perish.

Worker bees are the most numerous members of the colony. A healthy colony may contain 80,000 worker bees or more at its peak growth in early summer. Worker bees build and maintain the nest and care for the brood. They build the nest from wax secreted from glands in their abdomen. The hexagonal cells, or compartments, constructed by the worker bees are arranged in a latticework known as the comb. The cells are used for storage of the developing young bees, honey and pollen. Worker bees leave the hive to gather nectar, pollen, water, and propolis, a gummy substance, obtained from tree sap, used to seal and caulk the exterior of the nest. They convert the nectar to honey, clean the comb, and feed the larvae, drones, and the queen. They also ventilate the nest and when necessary, defend the colony with their barded stinger. The worker bees are responsible for maintaining the brood at (93? F), the optimum temperature required for hatching the eggs and rearing the young. When the nest or hive becomes too hot the worker bees collectively ventilate it by fanning their wings. During cool weather, they cluster tightly about the nursery and generate heat. The larvae are fed royal jelly for at least two days and then pollen and nectar or honey. Each of the hundreds of larvae in a nest or hive must be fed many times a day. For the first three weeks of their adult lives, the worker bees perform nurse activities. At the end of this period, they function as field bees and Guard bees. The worker bees that develop in the spring, last about six weeks. Worker bees reared late in the fall usually live until spring, since they have little to do in the winter except eat and keep warm.

Importance:
Honey bees have become the primary source of pollination for approximately one-third of all crops produced in the United States and other countries. The value of the crops that rely on such pollination has been estimated as high as $10 billion annually in the United States. Many species of wild pollinators have disappeared from the land as their habitats have been destroyed or altered by humans. The honey bee has taken over as pollinator of many of the wild plants that remain; its ecological value in this regard is tremendous. Honey bees are the sole source of honey and beeswax, a fine wax with unusual qualities. Honey bees also produce propolis, a gummy substance made from tree sap that has antibacterial properties, and royal jelly and pollen for human consumption. Honey bee venom is extracted for the production of antivenom therapy and is being investigated as a treatment for several serious diseases of the muscles, connective tissue, and immune system, including multiple sclerosis and arthritis.
There are 3 stages of development from egg to adult bee. The first stages is when the egg hatches and becomes a larva, something similar to a maggot. Within the larva stage there are 3 stages of development: the coma shape, the c shape and the capped cell. These stages are important to a beekeeper because it tells him/her the approximate age of larva. With this information the beekeeper can select a coma shaped larva and have the worker bees produce a Queen. The capped larva will go through a metamorphous to become a pupa which then hatches into an adult bee.
Bee colonies proliferate by dividing. Division occurs when the hive becomes over crowded with bees, honey and pollen. When the hive becomes crowded the worker bees decide to create a new queen. To do this they select worker bee cells which contain larva from one to three days old. Then they start filling those cells with Royal Jelly. The number of cells they select can be from one to dozens. Just before the new queen hatches the old queen take approximately half of the bees in the hive, who have gorged themselves with honey and pollen, and leave the hive. Soon the queen who is not accustom to flying gets tired and stops on a tree limb then the rest of the bees gather around her. This is known as a swarm. The swarm then send out scouts to find a new home. This can be a hole in a tree or a hole in a house or another suitable structure. They then start the process of comb building, food gathering and egg laying. Back in the old hive, the first queen to hatch runs around to all of the other queen cells before they hatch to kill the queen inside the cell with her sharp toothed jaw
The only way you can tell the difference between an Africanized honey bee and an European honey bee is to measure key bee parts through a microscope or through DNA testing.
If you see a feral colony of bees you need to contact a professional honey bee remover or dial 911. Should any honey bees show defensive tendencies run, cover and get inside a vehicle, house or structure. Shut yourself away from the bees. Do not jump in water because the bees will just wait until you need to breathe. It helps if the enclosure you choose is dark and if possible turn down the air conditioning.
The future of beekeeping in the state of Florida is grim. Currently, it costs more to produce honey than it can be sold on the wholesale market. Also, the State of Florida recommends the killing of all feral honey bees.

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