Table 11 - In the Beehive
A beehive is referred to as the dwellings or "nest holes" along with the honeybee colony within it. The dwelling alone is called the "hive" by the beekeeper. Inside the hive, there are prefabricated wooden frames made by the beekeeper, where the bees build hexagonal honeycombs with their wax glands. These combs (or cells) are also known among beekeepers as "works". The bee structure is then sealed with propolis. Within the honeycombs, the worker bees store nectar, pollen, honey and water, while the queen lays eggs (also referred to among beekeepers as "broods") in separate brood cells. By the way: without the help of beekeeping, honeybee colonies would not survive today.
The beekeepers' association of the Seefeld region has set up a display beehive for you here, along with a diligent bee colony! Approach carefully and open the doors; then you can observe the approximately 50,000 bees at work. Please do not tap on the glass, as this frightens the bees! Can you spot the workers and perhaps even find the queen? Please also close the doors quietly and carefully so that the bees are not unnecessarily disturbed!
Always a lot to do
Since the honey reserves of the colony are located at the edge of the comb and the heated brood nest (approx. 36 °C) is in the middle, the bees – who are responsible for heating – need to be provided with energy, which means food. On hot days, however, the hive also needs to be cooled – for this, e.g., the water brought in is evaporated.
Flying Guardians: The Beehive Flight Hole Game!
A beehive with strict bouncers! Keep an eye on the entrance hole of the beehive: Can you spot the guard bees? Count and time how many bees fly in and out in just 10 seconds.
A glimpse into the beehive
The life cycle of a worker bee
The young bee feeds the larvae and warms the brood at the beginning of her life. Later, she takes the nectar from her colleagues and stores it as honey. The pollen is preserved through fermentation and stored. Worker bees produce wax in special glands and sweat it out. Other bees build the honeycombs from it. Even before she flies out for the first time, the bee guards her hive and protects it from intruders. In her last stage of life, the bee collects nectar, pollen, water, and propolis on countless flights. After that, she dies.
A trio of collaboration
The three bee beings
In a bee colony, three different bee beings live: the queen, the drone, and the worker. The queen leads the colony with the help of scent substances, known as pheromones. Since she is the only bee being that can produce offspring, she is fed by her worker bees, especially the nurse bees, with a special food substance called royal jelly. However, it is important to note: None of the three bee beings can survive for long on their own – the colony thrives on collaboration.
The backbone of the beehive
The worker bee
The worker bee is an unfertilized female. She provides food for the queen and the drone and takes on many tasks in the beehive. In summer, there can be up to 50,000 individuals, making her the most common bee in the hive – in winter, there are about 10,000 to 15,000 per colony.
The noble protector
The drone
The drone has large compound eyes and fulfills no further tasks other than mating with the queen in the colony. It has no sting – so it cannot sting. Until the drone battle, when the worker bees prevent the drones from returning to the hive, there can live 500 to 1,000 of these male bees.
The ruler of the bee kingdom
The queen
The queen is the largest bee in the colony. There is only one queen per colony. She can be recognized by her elongated abdomen. She lays up to 2,000 eggs per day, also known as larvae due to their shape. She can live up to 5 years.
To better locate the queen in the beehive, she is marked on her back with a colored dot. There are five standardized colors worldwide: in 2024, for example, it will be green.
Mating and reproduction in flight
The Wedding
The queen and the male bee meet during the so-called "nuptial flight". There, the queen encounters about 15 to 30 drones for what is known as "mating" and collects enough sperm for up to 5 years. However, there are no honeymoon periods, as each drone dies after mating.
After the return, the queen can lay eggs, and the younger workers are just waiting to take care of these – and later the larvae – in the combs. The eggs grow into larvae and then become pupae. It takes about 21 days from the egg to eventually become a worker bee after metamorphosis.