Here is a queen excluder. The queen is twice the size of worker bees and is not able to fit thru. The excluder sits on top of the hive body and prevents her from moving up any higher and laying eggs in the areas used just for honey storage that the bee keeper will rob. Nobody wants honey with bee larva in it.
In early spring, a hive will begin increasing it's population in anticipation of the 'honey flow', which starts around here when the tulip poplars begin to bloom. A hive only has one queen, but during this peak season, a healthy hive may maintain about 30,000 to 40,000 worker bees (females) and 500 to 1000 drones (males). In winter, with less food sources available, the population will be reduced to about 500 to 12,000 workers.
A strong, healthy and well cared for queen may live for 2-4 years, and can lay 1200 or so eggs a day. When a current queen is on the decline and begins producing less eggs, leaves the hive with a swarm (more on that later), or is in general no longer healthy enough to maintain her superiority, worker bees prepare a new queen ahead of time. Royal jelly is fed to several larvae, this is the only way they can potentially become the queen. Normally, the first bee to emerge from her queen cell will sting the other bees to death before they have a chance to emerge. If more than one potential queen breaks free of her cell at a time, they will literally fight to the death as a hive can only have one queen.
The sole purpose of a drone is to mate with the queen. It is believed that only a few drones will mate with the queen. After mating, the 'lucky' fella dies, he has served his purpose. At the end of summer, as the honey flow comes to an end, most of the drones are chased away from the hive. There will be a limited amount of food to get the hive through the winter and they can't waste it on bees that don't contribute. Since drones are unable to forage for themselves, they quickly die.
The worker is the backbone of the hive. Every bee has a specific duty and performs it without fail. After bees are born, certain workers must clean out the cell to make ready for the new eggs to be laid. Larvae must be feed and tended to. Others attend the queen as she doesn't leave the hive. These will feed and groom her and even carry her waste outside. Some even pull guard duty at the entrance of the hive to make sure bees from other hives won't sneak in and try to steal honey.
A worker literally works herself to death and her life span is only about 30 days. She may fly up to 3 miles a day away from the hive foraging for nectar and pollen. Once she's loaded up, she will take the straightest and quickest route back to the hive, virtually 'making a beeline for' it.
A strong, healthy and well cared for queen may live for 2-4 years, and can lay 1200 or so eggs a day. When a current queen is on the decline and begins producing less eggs, leaves the hive with a swarm (more on that later), or is in general no longer healthy enough to maintain her superiority, worker bees prepare a new queen ahead of time. Royal jelly is fed to several larvae, this is the only way they can potentially become the queen. Normally, the first bee to emerge from her queen cell will sting the other bees to death before they have a chance to emerge. If more than one potential queen breaks free of her cell at a time, they will literally fight to the death as a hive can only have one queen.
The sole purpose of a drone is to mate with the queen. It is believed that only a few drones will mate with the queen. After mating, the 'lucky' fella dies, he has served his purpose. At the end of summer, as the honey flow comes to an end, most of the drones are chased away from the hive. There will be a limited amount of food to get the hive through the winter and they can't waste it on bees that don't contribute. Since drones are unable to forage for themselves, they quickly die.
The worker is the backbone of the hive. Every bee has a specific duty and performs it without fail. After bees are born, certain workers must clean out the cell to make ready for the new eggs to be laid. Larvae must be feed and tended to. Others attend the queen as she doesn't leave the hive. These will feed and groom her and even carry her waste outside. Some even pull guard duty at the entrance of the hive to make sure bees from other hives won't sneak in and try to steal honey.
A worker literally works herself to death and her life span is only about 30 days. She may fly up to 3 miles a day away from the hive foraging for nectar and pollen. Once she's loaded up, she will take the straightest and quickest route back to the hive, virtually 'making a beeline for' it.
