PLSC 311 Study Guide - Winter 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Honey Bee, Nectar, Ant Colony
PLSC 311
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
PLSC 311 Lecture 1
General Terminology:
Scientific name of the honey bee= Apis Mellifera L.
Genus Species Authority
Authority = Linnaeus = the person who advanced the nomenclature
Apiculture: scientific study of the honey bee
Beekeeping: husbandry or management of the honey bee
Apiary: location where bee colonies are kept in hives
- Also known as a bee-yard
Hives: home of the honey bee colony
- Is the provided equipment or structural housing to the bee colony
Colony: a social group of honey bees
- Consists of the queen bee, worker, and drones
- Works as an organized social unit
Honey comb: the structure constructed by the bees from bee wax
History of beekeeping:
- One of the oldest agriculture pursuits
oMight have to do with it being a sweet product (associated with food)
- Can divide this history into 5 eras (time periods)
1. Pre- Christian (Roman) era
- Tends to be cave drawings and paintings
oExamples: Spain in 4000- 6000 BC and also in Africa
- early in third era people were not beekeeping but rather honey hunters
othey would notice a colony of bees and they would get the honey from them
othese colonies could be on cliffs (they would need ropes, letters, ect. To get the
honey and was considered dangerous)
opart of the world still gather honey like this
- earliest writings about bees come from about 2500 BC and found in Egyptian tombs
oEgyptians practiced migratory beekeeping
They would use barges on the Nile River to move colonies of bees
oFirst name for lower Egypt was “bee land”
- There are many biblical references to bees and honey
oAround 1200 BC Israelites looking for a land of milk and honey
- Greeks know of beekeeping by 750 BC
oSome of the best early writings of honey bees are by the philosopher Aristotle
around 340 BC
oHe recognized that there are different races or sub-species of honey bees
oAmbrosia: nectar of the gods
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Made from fermented honey
Greece made this
- Roman, when they conquered led to them adopting the beekeeping technology known
at the point in 250-350 BC
oThey would levied their taxes in the form of honey and bees wax this shows the
value of these products in the society
oBeeswax was also important product for writing itself
Beeswax was used to coat tablets in the wax and once dried you would
write into the dried beeswax
- Later in the era, early beekeeping started when mankind learned to safe guard the
future of bee colonies
oNow looking after the bees instead of hunting for honey
oBees found in hollow structures such as caves, and hollow trees and people
started providing these for them
oAlso by capturing swarms that were departing from the colonies
Provision of “hives” or homes for bee swarms it helps establish these
swarms as new manageable ones
oVarious structures used as bee hives and tended to be small
This caused the colonies to swarm often so there would be lots of small
colonies instead of a few big ones
- Middle east: clay pottery vessels that were designed for storing grain or water
oHoney bee swarm will move into an empty container such as these clay pots
- Africa: wooden hives were used and sometimes hung from trees
oHung to stay away from problematic insects
- Europe: it is common to have baskets woven with coils with straw- each basket is called
a skep
oThis is still used in parts of Europe today (is illegal in Canada sue to not being
easily inspected for disease)
2. Dark Ages-lasted from start in BC to 1500 AD
- Until the 16th century honeybees were still all confined to the old world (Europe, Africa,
Asia)
oNo honey bees in north America yet
- Very little new research done about honey bees
- Still extremely little known about basic bee biology and behavior also misconceptions
oExamples:
the queen bee for many centuries was thought to be a king bee
thought that bees wax was collected by the honey bees, instead of being
produced by the worker bees
relationship of bees to pollination is unknown
- beekeeper operations were still simple
oconsisted if the capturing of swarms in late spring and summer
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Scientific name of the honey bee= apis mellifera l. Authority = linnaeus = the person who advanced the nomenclature. Beekeeping: husbandry or management of the honey bee. Apiary: location where bee colonies are kept in hives. Is the provided equipment or structural housing to the bee colony. Consists of the queen bee, worker, and drones. Honey comb: the structure constructed by the bees from bee wax. One of the oldest agriculture pursuits: might have to do with it being a sweet product (associated with food) Can divide this history into 5 eras (time periods: pre- christian (roman) era. To get the honey and was considered dangerous: part of the world still gather honey like this earliest writings about bees come from about 2500 bc and found in egyptian tombs, egyptians practiced migratory beekeeping. They would use barges on the nile river to move colonies of bees: first name for lower egypt was bee land .
