Honeybees

Identification

Honey Bees are social insects that are made up of three casts in their colony, workers, queens and drones. Workers are ½ to 5/8 inches long. They have a fuzzy brown to black in color and covered with hairs. Their abdomen is striped. They have two pair of wings the back pair are shorter than the front pair. The workers have a barbed stinger at the end of their abdomen that is used to sting its predators to protect the colony. Their back legs are modified to transport pollen. They have a tongue like mouthpart that allows them to collect nectar in flowers. The Queens are the larger bees in the colony ranging from 5/8 to ¾ of an inch in length. Drones are much stouter and darker than the workers or queens.

Biology

The queen is the only fertile female; she produces all the eggs for the colony. New queens are produced every year. These new queens will then fly off and start new colonies. When these queens leave the colony they take with them a number of worker bees, this is called the “swarm”. The swarm usually happens in early spring on a warm day. During the swarm it’s not uncommon to see them bunched together on tree limbs, fences, tree stumps, telephone poles, or on the side of a building. They are resting as they continue to look for a crevice, void, or nesting place for their new colony. During their swarm they are not aggressive. The swarm may last 24 to 48 hours.

Queens can lay 1,000 to 2,500 eggs per day. Drones serve only to fertilize the queens and are driven off by the workers after they have served their purpose. Workers only live five to seven weeks during the summer. A colony may have as many as 15,000 to 90,000 workers.

Workers collect nectar and pollen from flowering plants. As they collect the nectar they aid in the pollination of transferring the nectar to other flowering plants, this allows them to produce fruits. This also allows them to produce honey from the honeycomb with the wax they secrete.

Benefits

The Honey Bees is a vital and beneficial insect. Without its pollination efforts we would not have the variety or quantity of crops and fruits that we have. Honey bees also provide the production of honey that is shipped throughout the U.S. and other countries.

Disadvantages

Even though honey bees provide a huge benefit to our environment, there are some disadvantages:

• Their sting can be dangerous to some humans and pets.
• Where they nest can be a problem.
• Killer Bees (Africanized Honey Bee)
• Other insects are attracted to the honey.
• The honey inside walls of a structure can damage wood and wall coverings

Their sting can be very painful and dangerous to some humans and pets. Multiple stings can cause serious problems for those that have an immune deficiency. Seek medical attention as soon as you can. Cold compressed rags can be used to slow the swelling until you get medical attention.

Where the bees decide to nest and make honey can cause problems. We find hives every year in homes, commercial buildings, under storage sheds, in or around club houses, play grounds, dog houses, and in trees or shrubs around the home. There is only two ways to control bees that nest near homes; have them removed by a bee keeper or kill them with insecticides. We have always recommended removing them with a bee keeper if possible, but with the emergence of the killer bees bee keepers have become reluctant to take on new bees.

Once bees have nested and made honey inside a void or crevice in the home/structure serious problems can arise. The honey needs to be removed if possible. Honey can liquefy and spoil in the walls; this can cause damage to the wood, insulation and wall coverings. Ants, moths, carpet beetles, gnats and other insects are attracted to this honey. Sometimes it is impossible to remove the honey from a brick structure without tearing the wall down.

With the emergence of the Africanized Honey Bee a lot has changed in the control and bee keeping of bees. As mentioned above bee keepers are reluctant to bring more bees into their production of honey not knowing if the colony has been infected with the killer bees. The Africanized honey bee is much more aggressive than the native bees. They have been known to follow its victims for several hundred yards stinging them continuously. People, pets, wildlife, and farm animals have been killed and hospitalized.

Do not try to control any bee problems yourself. Call us to review the options of control and removal. Protective clothing, gloves, and masks must always be worn when dealing with bees.