PLSC 311 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Royal Jelly, Pupa, Worker Bee
Lecture 4: Caste of the honey bee
Caste= different form of bee
Three different caste:
1. Queen
2. Worker
3. Drone
Queen and workers are female
The drone is the only male bee
The queen is usually the only fertile bee and worker bees are sterile
The number of each caste at summer peak (middle of summer) on a per colony basis:
- Queen = 1
- Workers = 60-80 thousand
- Drone = 500-1,000
A honey bee colony is a female society
Honey be development
- Each caste developed in its own cell type
- Cell size and orientation can be different in each cell type
- horizontal orientation
oWorkers and drones emanate from these horizontal cells
oEach side are available for the bees to build out
oAt the base of the cells is where the queen lays an egg
oThey have a hexagon frontal view
oIf the hexagon is 1/5th inch across (diameter) then it is a worker bee cell, where
the worker caste is produced
5 per inch
odrones being larger bees then the workers then their brood cells are bigger and
are ¼ of an inch in diameter
4 per inch
unfertilized eggs become drones
obeekeepers are careful with their combs if they damage the combs the worker
will repair the comb by putting drone cells in the comb
might want to limit the number of potential drones
damage combs should not go into brood chamber or it will creak more
drones
often if the comb surface gets damaged the adult worker bee repair that
area of the comb with drone diameter cells
queens generally fill the cells with eggs from the size of the cells (bigger
for drone and smaller for workers)
- the queen is raised in vertically orientated cells
odiameter of the cell is about 3/8th of an inch
opeanut shape
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The queen is usually the only fertile bee and worker bees are sterile. The number of each caste at summer peak (middle of summer) on a per colony basis: A honey bee colony is a female society. Each caste developed in its own cell type. 5 per inch: drones being larger bees then the workers then their brood cells are bigger and are of an inch in diameter. Unfertilized eggs become drones: beekeepers are careful with their combs if they damage the combs the worker will repair the comb by putting drone cells in the comb. Might want to limit the number of potential drones. Damage combs should not go into brood chamber or it will creak more drones. Often if the comb surface gets damaged the adult worker bee repair that area of the comb with drone diameter cells.
