BEEz

What is a honeybee colony?

It's a community of thousands of worker bees, usually containing one queen with drones. It is maintained by beekeepers. +Consists of hexagonal beeswax cells built by honeybees to raise brood and store honey -Brood refers to the eggs and larvae of the hive

CCD

Colony Collapse Disorder: +occurs when the vast majority of bees in any given colony - generally worker bees- die out unexpectedly +causes: -diseases/parasites -pesticides -immunosuppressing stress -poor nutrition

Members of A Colony

Consist of a large number of worker bees (20k-30K), a few thousand drone bees, and one queen bee +Worker bees: -under developed females -feed the queen and larvae -guard the hive entrance -keep the hive cool by using their wings -collect nectar to make honey -produce wax comb +Drone bees: -fertilizes the queen's eggs +Queen bee: -reproduces

Parts of a Bee

+ Has a exoskeleton: made up of a material called chitin and aids in the protection of internal organs and prevents dehydration - as the bee grows, the skeleton sheds + Consist of 3 body regions: -Head: contains appendages for ingestion and sensory organs -Thorax: contains appendages for locomotion (legs and wings -Abdomen: contains digestive and reproductive organs

Head

Antennae: +located near the face +are sensitive to touch and odor Eyes +Compound Eyes (2) -allows them to see 6 major categories of color, except red -enables honeybees to distinguish movement +Simple Eyes (3) -sensitive to light and can't solve images Proboscis + A long, hairy tongue that acts like a straw -Uses: fed on water, nectar, and honey and to work wax into the comb Mandibles +They have a pair of them, that act like a pair of pliers

Thorax

Six legs in three pairs +Pollen baskets: located on the outer hind leg and holds the pollen in place +Rakes + Combs: the actual structures on the hind legs that allow for pollen to be collected and removed Two sets of wings +propeller-like movement of these wings enables the bee to take flight

Abdomen

Stinger +located at the end of the abdomen - only females have a stinger Wax Glands +enlarged during the wax forming period of a bee +the worker bee releases wax as a liquid, hardens into flakes, and forms the comb