2
Honey bees are social insects. By working together the survival
of all members of the colony are improved. There are three
different sorts of bee in one colony each with their own work.
This is the queen
bee. There is only
one queen bee in
a colony. She is
the mother of the
hive. Her work is
to lay eggs that
will develop into
new bees. She can
lay 1000 eggs
every day at some
times of year.
This is the male
bee or drone. His
only job is to
mate with a
young queen.
There are about
500 drones in a
hive when there
is plenty of food.
They are driven
out during the
dearth period.
This is a worker
bee. She is a
female
but
cannot lay eggs.
She does all the
work in the hive.
There may be as
many as 40,000
workers in the
main
honey
gathering
season.
Basic Beekeeping Manual 1: The Life of the Bee (© Author Pam Gregory, who offers this as her gift to beekeepers
in developing countries)