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How to Requeen a Queenless Hive
The queen is the most important member of the honey bee colony. Without her, the hive cannot survive. There are times when the hive becomes queenless and the beekeeper must step in to provide a new queen. This is called requeening. What is a Queenless Hive? A queenless hive is a hive that does not have a queen. On the other hand, a hive that has a queen is called queenright. It is important for a beehive to have a queen at all times because the queen is the only one that is able to lay fertilized eggs. Sometimes the colony is able to make a new queen on their…
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Types of Honey Bees and Their Roles in the Colony
Honeybees are eusocial insects. That means that they live in groups and divide labor among members. Bees are reliant on each other for survival. Eusocial insects show an advanced level of social organization. Some eusocial characteristics include cooperative brood care, overlapping generations within a colony, and specialized behavioral groups (castes). Other eusocial insects are ants and termites. While it is commonly thought that honeybees have 3 castes, technically speaking, there are 2 sexes and 2 castes. So when someone says that there are 3 castes, they really mean that there are 3 types (males and 2 female castes). The 2 sexes of honeybees are male and female, of course. The…
