Transcript A Little Bit of Background on Honey Bees

Honey Bee Project!
Take Two…
Honey Bee Background
1500 B.C. – early signs of
Beekeeping
1568 – discovered bees could
raise a queen from young larva
1609- drones
1637- discovered that
showed as male all workers are female
bees
1717- showed that
nectar did not fall
from the sky
1586 – queen described as
mother of the hive
1793- importance bees
have in pollination showed
Important Terms
Drone: A lazy male honey bee
Worker: Female honey bees who take care of the hive
Queen: mother of the hive
Brood: a number of young produced or hatched at one time
Swarm: honeybees that emigrate from a hive and fly off
together, accompanied by a queen, to start a new colony.
Overwinter: The bees ability of survive the winter
Propolis: A reddish resinous cement collected by bees from
the buds of tree
Not all Bees are the Same
Honey Bee: Any bee
that stores and collects
honey.(Apis Mellifera)
Hornet: They make
hive and comb out of
chewed tree bark.
Feed on other insects.
Bumble Bee: Social insects
that have black and yellow
body hairs, often in bands.
Do not store honey, but feed
on nectar and pollen. Live in
small nests (50).
Honey Bee Breeds and Hives
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Carniolan Honey Bee
Originates in Slovenia
Over winters well
Less susceptible to brood disease
Rapid build up in early spring
Italian Honey Bees
General purpose bee
Easy to locate queen
Wonderful Forager
Resistant to European Foul Brood
Langstroth Hive
+ Invented in 1850 by
Rev. L.L. Langstroth
+ Start of industrial
beekeeping
+ Rectangular hive,
movable frames, spaced
specifically for honey bees
Top Bar Hive
+ Developed in Greece
thousands of years ago
+ Inexpensive
+ Natural size cells
Building the Hive
Bringing the Bees Home
Next Step
Once Every Two Weeks
•Take picture of front and back of each frame
• Use Photo Shop to analyze the data
My Senior Year
•Analyze data
•Write up report
Every Day
•Use Kestrel to get weather conditions
•Rate the bees activity on a scale of 1-5
Thesis Statement
More brood then honey
Brood kept in middle of hive
More active on sunny days
Why Should We Care About Bees?
Honey Bees are responsible for pollinating about 92 crops in the US
The value of honey bees to American agriculture is 15 billion dollars a year
Outro
Varroa Mite
This is an ongoing project
Argentine Ants
Wax Moths
Threats to Honey Bees
Threats to My Project
• Wax Moths
• Bears
• Argentine Ants
• Varroa Mites
Swarm
• Swarming
• Varroa Mites
• Other Animals
• Bee Stings
• Not getting enough data
Sources
"Bees in The Ecosystem." American Museum of Natural
History. Museum of Natural History,
00/000/1998. Web. 12 May 2011.
<http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/youngn
aturalistawards/1998/bees.html>.
Bessin, Ric. "Varroa Mites Infesting Honey Bee
Colonies." Univercity of Kentucky.
Univercity of Kentucky, 00/oct/2001. Web. 12
May 2011.<http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology
/entfacts/ef608.asp>.
Chandler, P.J. The Barefoot Beekeeper. 3rd ed.
Lexington, KY: 2009. 12-24. Print.
Imirie, George. "History of Honey Bees." George's Pink
Pages. N.p., 00/Dec/2000. Web. 12 May 2011.
<http://www.tnbeekeepers.org/pubs/History%
2520of%2520Honey%2520Bees%2520Dec%252
02000.pdf>.
"The Role of Bees in the Ecosystem." 5MinMedia: Web. 12
May 2011.
<http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhnejd_t
he-role-of-bees-in-the-ecosystem_tech>.
"Types of Honey Bee Breeds." BeekeepingStarterKit.com.
BeekeepingStarterKit.com, n.d. Web. 12 May
2011.
<http://www.beekeepingstarterkit.com/>.