Honey bees

Rising

stars

Group name

HONEY BEES

• Any of several social bees of the genus

Apis that produce honey and are native toEurasia and Africa, especially A. mellifera, widelydomesticated as a source of honey and beeswax and often kept in hives.

Verse and some quotations

about honey bees

"AND YOUR LORD TAUGHT THE HONEY BEE TO BUILD ITS CELLS IN HILLS, ON

TREES, AND IN (MEN'S) HABITATIONS; THEN TO EAT OF ALL THE PRODUCE (OF

THE EARTH), AND FIND WITH SKILL THE SPACIOUS PATHS OF ITS LORD: THERE

ISSUES FROM WITHIN THEIR BODIES A DRINK OF VARYING COLOURS, WHEREIN IS

HEALING FOR MEN: VERILY IN THIS IS A SIGN FOR THOSE WHO GIVE THOUGHT.

(SURAT AN-NAHL (THE BEE), 68-69)

• If the bees disappear from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than 4 years to live.~ Albert Einstein.

• It takes a bee to get the honey out.~ Arthur Guiterman

Living style of honey bees and

a comparison with humans

• HONEY BEE COLONY

• HUMAN COLONY

Colony of humans and hive of honey

bees are almost same

Each honey bee colony has a unique odors for member’s identification.

Organization of honey bee colony

Queen

• Each colony has only one queen honey bee

• Her primary function is to lay eggs

• One queen may produce 250,000 eggs per year

• She is easily distinguished from other members of colony

• she has neither pollen baskets nor functional wax glands

drone

• Drones are male bees and are largest bees in the colony

• Drones have no stinger, pollen baskets, or wax glands

• Their main function is to fertilize eggs

• Drones eat three times as much food as workers

• Drones have never been observed taking food from flowers.

workers

• Workers are the smallest and constitute the majority of bees occupying the colony.

• They are undeveloped females and under normal hive conditions do not lay eggs.

• They have brood food glands, scent glands, wax glands, and pollen baskets.

• They make nests with wax and bring nectar.

• Only worker bee sting.

Dance of honey bees

A honey bee performs a carefully choreographed dance that instructs the rest of the hive where to find a food source.

Round dance

Honey bee performs a round dance to communicate the location of food sources close to the colony (less than 35 yards away).

The Waggle Dance

• As the food source becomes more distant the round dance is replaced by the waggle dance.

• There is a gradual transition between the round and waggle dance, taking place through either a figure eight or sickle shaped pattern.

lessons we humans can

learn from honey bees…

• Honey bees live within their means.

• Honey bees achieve extra-ordinary things by working together.

• Honey bees demonstrate that division of labour can be highly efficient.

• Bees are opportunists.

• Ego is not a feature of honey bees.

• Honeybees share: they know there is plenty for everyone, including other species.

• Honey bees adapt to their surroundings.

• They are always prepared for shortages as well as for disasters and hard times.

Hard work of honey bees• It is estimated that for every pound of

honey, around 25,000 flights must be made to make collect necessary nectar. They also must visit around 2 million flowers to make that pound of honey and fly 55,000 miles.

• After such a great hard work they make honey.

Excerpt from a poem by

Isaac Watts• How doth the little busy bee

Improve each shining hour,And gather honey all the dayFrom every shining flower!

How skillfully she builds her cell!How neat she spreads the wax!And labours hard to store it wellWith the sweet food she makes.

If we humans do such a great hard work we will get reward as sweet as honey…

Thank you