2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16
Honey is a tasty and he althy delicacy that is collected by bees. But do you know how long bees live? This article will answer this question, as well as reveal the features of the life of "honey producers".
Stages of development and social groups
Insects in the life cycle have 4 stages of development: egg-caterpillar-pupa-adult. There are 10-50 thousand bees in the colony, which are divided into 3 social groups: the queen, working females (sterile), male drones and developing young bees.
The uterus lays 1000 eggs a day, she is the mother of all "honey workers", and her life expectancy is up to 5 years. If we compare how long the worker bees and the queen live, it turns out that only the queen lives for several years, the rest of the individuals remain viable for 1.5-9 months.
As a result of the mating of the queen with the male, 2 sets of genes are formed, which are transmitted to the female descendants (worker bees). Male drones are endowed only with sexual function, they are recognized as semi-clones of the uterus and do not have a paternal set of genes. If, when crossing in beekeepers, eggs are fertilized with two copies of the gene of the same allele, then sterile males appear, whicheven at the stage of larvae, they are exterminated by worker bees. In case of unsuccessful crossings, entire families can die.
How long do bees live
On average, a worker bee lives for six weeks, but it dies immediately if it stings someone. Drones have no stinger and are larger than the workers. They are looked after by "hard workers". They live for 2 months only because they have to fertilize a young uterus during this time. If this does not happen, they are either kicked out, or they themselves leave the family.
How long do bees live, which came out of the larvae in anticipation of autumn? They hibernate until spring in the hive, so the life expectancy of such individuals increases and can reach 7-9 months.
The "honey workers" have a very unusual feature - they can regulate their lifespan. This is happening:
- in the event of an emergency (impairment);
- when bees swarm.
The life span of some individuals in these cases can reach 150-200 days. Also, beekeepers have noticed that with an abundant supply of pollen to the bee colony, insects live longer. In a strong family, bees look after each other, so life is established there. But the main indicator on which the life of a bee will depend is its activity: the more work, the faster the individual becomes decrepit.
Factors influencing the life expectancy of "honey workers"
Thus, the life of bees depends on the following factors:
- season - winter individualslive longer;
- belonging to a social category - the uterus lives the longest;
- strength of a bee colony - individuals in strong colonies live longer;
- the amount of processed nectar - the harder the bee works, the shorter its lifespan.
Before breeding bees, you need to know all the features of the life expectancy of bees in order to increase the efficiency of the hive. Indeed, to produce one kilogram of honey, a bee needs to fly out of the hive and visit the flower 20 million times. Of course, honey is not made by one bee, but by thousands. But you need to take care of them and provide comfortable living conditions.
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