NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Honeybee

Apis andreniformis
Apis cerana, or eastern honey bee
Apis dorsata, or giant honey bee
Apis florea
Apis koschevnikovi
Apis laboriosa
Apis mellifera, or western honey bee
Apis nigrocincta
Apis nuluensis The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive. ... Image File history File links Apis_mellifera_bi. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms (as opposed to folk taxonomy). ... Phyla Subregnum Parazoa Porifera (sponges) Subregnum Agnotozoa Placozoa (trichoplax) Orthonectida (orthonectids) Rhombozoa (dicyemids) Subregnum Eumetazoa Radiata (unranked) (radial symmetry) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anemones) Bilateria (unranked) (bilateral symmetry) Acoelomorpha (basal) Myxozoa (slime animals) Superphylum Deuterostomia (blastopore becomes anus) Chordata (vertebrates, etc. ... Subphyla and Classes Subphylum Trilobitomorpha Trilobita - trilobites (extinct) Subphylum Chelicerata Arachnida - spiders,scorpions, etc. ... Classes & Orders See taxonomy Insects are invertebrate animals of the Class Insecta, the largest and (on land) most widely-distributed taxon within the phylum Arthropoda. ... Suborders Apocrita Symphyta Many families, see article Hymenoptera is one of the larger orders of Insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. ... Subfamilies Apinae - Honeybees Bombinae - Bumblebees Euglossinae - Orchid bees Meliponinae - Stingless bees Nomadinae Xylocopinae - Carpenter bees The Apidae are a large family of bees, comprising the common honeybees, stingless bees (which are also cultured for honey), carpenter bees, and bumblebees. ... Species A. melliferaâ€” western honeybee A. ceranaâ€” eastern honeybee Honeybees are a subset of bees which fall into the Order Hymenoptera and Suborder Apocrita. ... Apis Species Categories: Stub | Insects ... Binomial name Apis andreniformis Frederick Smith, 1858 Apis andreniformis is a species of honeybee whose native habitat is the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia. ... Apis cerana are small honeybees of southern and southeastern Asia. ... Species A. melliferaâ€” western honeybee A. ceranaâ€” eastern honeybee Honeybees are a subset of bees which fall into the Order Hymenoptera and Suborder Apocrita. ... Binomial name Apis koschevnikovi Enderlein, 1906 Koschevnikovs Bee, or Apis koschevnikovi, is a species of honeybee which inhabits Malaysian and Indonesian Borneo, where it lives conspecifically with other honeybee species such as Apis cerana (specifically A. c. ... Apis dorsata laboriosa is a subspecies of honeybee originally described as a species, but which has since been recognized to represent a geographic race (subspecies) of the more widely-distributed Apis dorsata, or Giant Honeybee (Engel, 1999). ... Binomial name Apis mellifera The species called Western honeybees (Apis mellifera) are honeybees comprised of several subspecies or races. ... Binomial name Apis nigrocincta Frederick Smith, 1861 Apis nigrocincta is a species of honeybee that inhabits the Philippine islands of Mindanao and Sangihe as well as the Indonesian island of Celebes or Sulawesi. ... Apis cerana nuluensis is a subspecies of honeybee described in 1996 by Tingek, Koeniger & Koeniger. ...

Honey bees are a subset of bees which represent a far smaller fraction of bee diversity than most people suspect; of the approximately 20,000 known species of bees, there are only six to eleven species (depending on the authority) within the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis, and all of which produce and store liquified sugar ("honey") to some degree. Families Andrenidae Apidae Colletidae Halictidae Megachilidae Melittidae Stenotritidae Bee collecting pollen Bees (a lineage within the superfamily Apoidea) are flying insects, closely related to wasps and ants. ... Magnified crystals of refined sugar Magnification of typical sugar In general use, non-scientists take sugar to mean sucrose, also called table sugar or saccharose, a white crystalline solid disaccharide. ...

Origin and distribution of the genus Apis

See movie of bee at work collecting pollen. Requires an Ogg Theora enabled player, such as VideoLAN.

Bee collecting pollen.

Honey bees as a group appear to have their center of origin in Southeast Asia (including the Philippines), as all but one of the extant species are native to that region, including the most primitive living species (Apis florea and A. andreniformis). The first Apis bees appear in the fossil record in deposits dating about 35 million years ago during the Oligocene period; that these fossils are from Europe does not necessarily indicate that Europe is where the genus originated, as the likelihood of fossils being found in Southeast Asia is very small, even if that is the true origin. The ancestors and close relatives of modern honey bees were all already social and so social behavior predates the origin of the genus. Among the extant members of the genus, the more ancient species make single, exposed combs, while the more recently-evolved species nest in cavities and have multiple combs, which greatly facilitated their domestication. File links The following pages link to this file: Honeybee ... File links The following pages link to this file: Honeybee ... OGG can refer to several items: Ogg is a multimedia bitstream container, used for audio and video files, especially Vorbis audio files. ... Theora is a video codec being developed by the Xiph. ... VideoLAN is a software development project comprising two multi-platform computer programsâ€”VLC media player and VideoLAN Server (VLS)â€”and several audio/video decoding and decryption libraries. ... Download high resolution version (1024x768, 142 KB) http://pdphoto. ... Download high resolution version (1024x768, 142 KB) http://pdphoto. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... Species A. melliferaâ€” western honeybee A. ceranaâ€” eastern honeybee Honeybees are a subset of bees which fall into the Order Hymenoptera and Suborder Apocrita. ... Binomial name Apis andreniformis Frederick Smith, 1858 Apis andreniformis is a species of honeybee whose native habitat is the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Fossil. ... The Oligocene epoch is a geologic period of time that extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present. ... World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of Earth; the term continent here referring to a cultural and political distinction, rather than a physiographic one, thus leading to various perspectives about Europes precise borders. ...

Four species have historically been cultured for or robbed of honey by humans: Apis mellifera (Western honey bee), Apis florea (Dwarf honey bee/little bee), Apis cerana and Apis dorsata. Two of these species have been domesticated, one (Apis mellifera) at least since the time of the building of the Egyptian pyramids. Binomial name Apis mellifera The species called Western honeybees (Apis mellifera) are honeybees comprised of several subspecies or races. ... Species A. melliferaâ€” western honeybee A. ceranaâ€” eastern honeybee Honeybees are a subset of bees which fall into the Order Hymenoptera and Suborder Apocrita. ... Apis cerana are small honeybees of southern and southeastern Asia. ... Binomial name Apis mellifera The species called Western honeybees (Apis mellifera) are honeybees comprised of several subspecies or races. ... The pyramids of Egypt, some of which are amongst the largest man-made constructions ever conceived, constitute one of the most potent and enduring symbols of Ancient Egyptian civilization. ...

Apis mellifera, the most commonly domesticated species, probably originated in Tropical Africa and spread from there to Northern Europe and East into Asia. It is also called the Western honey bee. There are many sub-species that have adapted to the environment of their geographic and climatic area. Behavior, color and anatomy can be quite different from one sub-species or race to another. In 1622, first European colonists brought the sub-species Apis mellifera mellifera to the Americas. Many of the crops that depend on honey bees for pollination have also been imported since colonial times. Escaped swarms (known as wild bees, but actually feral) spread rapidly as far as the Great Plains, usually preceding the colonists. The Native Americans called the honey bee "the white man's fly." Honey bees did not naturally cross the Rocky mountains; they were carried by ship to California in the early 1850s. For other uses, see Africa (disambiguation). ... Northern Europe is marked in dark blue Northern Europe is a name of the northern part of the European continent. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... Binomial name Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 The Western honeybee (Apis mellifera) is a species of honeybee comprised of several subspecies or races. ... Events January 1 - In the Gregorian calendar, January 1 is declared as the first day of the year, instead of March 25. ... ... World map showing the Americas The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere historically considered to consist of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. ... A feral horse (an American mustang) in Wyoming A feral animal or plant is one that has escaped from domestication and returned, partly or wholly, to its wild state. ... The Great Plains is the broad expanse of prairie which lies east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. ... American Indian and Alaskan Natives[1] (term preferred by the majority of people included) are the indigenous peoples within the territory that is now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska down to their descendants in modern times. ... White Goat Wilderness Area, Alberta, Canada View of the Rocky Mountains as depicted on the Colorado state quarter The Rocky Mountains, often called the Rockies, are a broad mountain range in western North America. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area Ranked 3rd - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 kmÂ²) - Width 250 miles (400 km) - Length 770 miles (1,240 km) - % water 4. ... // Events and Trends Technology Production of steel revolutionised by invention of the Bessemer process Benjamin Silliman fractionates petroleum by distillation for the first time First transatlantic telegraph cable laid First safety elevator installed by Elisha Otis Science Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species, putting forward the theory of evolution...

Apis florea and Apis cerana are small honey bees of southern and southeastern Asia. The former makes very small, exposed nests in trees and shrubs, while the latter makes nests in cavities and is cultured for honey in a similar fashion to Apis mellifera. Their stings are often not capable of penetrating human skin, so the hive and swarms can be handled with minimal protection.

Apis cerana have formed a ball around two hornets. Their body heat being trapped in the tight ball they have formed will kill the hornets by overheating them. Species A. melliferaâ€” western honeybee A. ceranaâ€” eastern honeybee Honeybees are a subset of bees which fall into the Order Hymenoptera and Suborder Apocrita. ... Apis cerana are small honeybees of southern and southeastern Asia. ... Binomial name Apis mellifera The species called Western honeybees (Apis mellifera) are honeybees comprised of several subspecies or races. ... HIVE can also mean HIVE the Icelandic ISP HIVE is an abstract game programming library. ... School of juvenile herring - many fish have the opercula wide open for ram feeding and you can see the red gills The term swarm (schooling or swarming) is applied to fish, birds and insects and describes a behavior of an aggregation (school) of animals of similar size and body orientation... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1136x852, 239 KB) jp: ãƒ‹ãƒ›ãƒ³ãƒŸãƒ„ãƒãƒã®èœ‚çƒã€‚å†…éƒ¨ã«ã¯ã‚ã‚¤ãƒã‚¹ã‚ºãƒ¡ãƒãƒãŒã„ã‚‹ã€‚2005å¹´7æœˆ30æ—¥æŠ•ç¨¿è€…ãŒæ¨ªæµœå¸‚å†…ã«ã¦æ’®å½± File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Honey bee Asian giant hornet Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1136x852, 244 KB) jp:èœ‚çƒè§£ä½“å¾Œã«æ®‹ã•ã‚ŒãŸã‚ã‚¤ãƒã‚¹ã‚ºãƒ¡ãƒãƒã®éºéª¸ã€‚2005å¹´7æœˆ30æ—¥ æŠ•ç¨¿è€…ãŒæ¨ªæµœå¸‚å†…ã«ã¦æ’®å½± File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Honey bee Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera...

Apis dorsata, the giant honey bee, is native to south and southeastern Asia, and usually makes its exposed combs on high tree limbs, or on cliffs, and sometimes on buildings. It is wild and can be very fierce. It is robbed of its honey periodically by human honey gatherers, a practice known as honey hunting. Its colonies are easily capable of stinging a human being to death when provoked.

Beekeeping

Queen (The yellow dot on the thorax was added by a beekeeper to aid in finding the queen. She was probably born in 1997 or 2002; see the Queen article for an explanation of the color)

The honey bee is a colonial insect that is often maintained, fed, and transported by beekeepers. It has been suggested that Honey flow be merged into this article or section. ... Bee Queen File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... For the Queen bee in clique & social groups, see Clique. ... In biology, a colony (from Latin colonia) means several individual organisms of the same species living closely together, usually for mutual benefit, such as stronger defences, the ability to attack bigger prey etc. ... Classes & Orders See taxonomy Insects are invertebrate animals of the Class Insecta, the largest and (on land) most widely-distributed taxon within the phylum Arthropoda. ... It has been suggested that Honey flow be merged into this article or section. ...

Honey bees collect flower nectar and convert it to honey which is stored in their hives. Nectar and honey provide the energy for the bees' flight muscles and for heating the hive during the winter period. Honey bees also collect pollen which supplies protein and fat for bee brood to grow. Centuries of selective breeding by humans has created honey bees that produce far more honey than the colony needs. Beekeepers, also known as "apiarists", harvest the honey. A jar of honey, shown with a wooden honey server and scones. ... SEM image of pollen grains from a variety of common plants: sunflower (Helianthus annuus), morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea), hollyhock (Sidalcea malviflora), lily (Lilium auratum), primrose (Oenothera fruticosa), and castor bean (Ricinus communis). ... Recently hatched honeybee larvae are feeding on royal jelly for three days. ... It has been suggested that Honey flow be merged into this article or section. ...

Beekeepers often provide a place for the colony to live and to store honey in. There are seven basic types of beehive: skeps, Langstroth hives, top-bar hives, box hives, log gums, D.E. hives and miller hives. All U.S. states require beekeepers to use movable frames to allow bee inspectors to check the brood for disease. This allows the Langstroth, top-bar and D.E. hives, but other types of hives require special permitting, such as for museum use. The type of beehive used significantly impacts colony health, and wax and honey production. It has been suggested that Langstroth hive be merged into this article or section. ... Domesticated honeybees are kept in beehives. ... Langstroth hives on pallets The Langstroth bee hive is the standard beehive used in many parts of the world for bee keeping. ... Top-bar hives are a style of beehive used for beekeeping. ... The box hive is a beehive shaped like a Langstroth hive but it pays no attention to bee space and therefore can be longer, taller and wider. ... The log gum was esentially a bee tree cut into a short section that contained a colony of honey bees. ...

Modern hives also enable beekeepers to transport bees, moving from field to field as the crop needs pollinating and allowing the beekeeper to charge for the pollination services they provide.

In cold climates, some beekeepers have kept colonies alive (with varying success) by moving them indoors for winter. While this can protect the colonies from extremes of temperature and make winter care and feeding more convenient for the beekeeper, it can increase the risk of dysentery (see the Nosema section of diseases of the honey bee) and can create an excessive buildup of carbon dioxide from the respiration of the bees. Recently, inside wintering has been refined by Canadian beekeepers who build large barns just for wintering bees. Automated ventilation systems assist in the control of carbon dioxide build-up. Dysentery is an illness (formerly known as the bloody flux or simply flux) involving severe diarrhea that is often associated with blood in the feces. ... Common diseases, parasites, pests, and ailments of the honeybee include: // Varroa mites Varroa mite on a honeybee larva Main articles: Varroa destructor Varroa destructor and Varroa jacobsoni are parasitic mites that feed off the bodily fluids of adult, pupal and larval bees. ... Carbon dioxide is an atmospheric gas comprised of one carbon and two oxygen atoms. ...

Honey bee life cycle

Like other eusocial bees, a colony generally contains one breeding female, or "queen"; a few thousand males, or "drones"; and a large population of sterile female workers. The queen's eggs hatch in three days, and the larvae are fed with royal jelly produced by worker bees. After a few more days, the larvae are fed on honey and pollen. The exception is a larva fed solely on royal jelly, which will develop into a queen bee. The larva takes eight days to develop, undergoing several moltings before spinning a cocoon within the egg cell. Here the larva pupates. Honeybees are social insects that live in a colony. ... Eusociality is the phenomenon of reproductive specialisation found in some species of animal, whereby a specialised caste carries out reproduction in a colony of non-reproductive animals. ... For the Queen bee in clique & social groups, see Clique Peanut-like queen brood cells extend outward and downward from the broodcomb. ... Royal jelly is a type of bee secretion that aids in the development of immature or young bees. ... Chrysalis of Gulf Fritillary in Georgetown, South Carolina Pupation of Inachis io A pupa (plural: pupae or pupas) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation. ...

For the first ten days of their lives, the female worker bees clean the hive and feed the larvae. After this, they begin building comb cells. On days 16 through 20, a worker receives nectar and pollen from older workers and stores it. After the 20th day, a worker leaves the hive and spends the remainder of its life as a forager. The foragers die usually when their wings are worn out after approximately 500 miles of flight. Honey bee wings beat at a constant rate of 230 beats per second or 13,800 beats/minute.

The frequency of the wing beats was much higher than expected for an insect of this size. Honey bees make up for carrying heavier loads or for changes in air density by altering the amplitude of their wings and catching more air. This makes the wing muscles work harder, but it does not change the frequency of the wing beats. The science of bee flight remained an unsolved mystery until December of 2005. A study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science details the work supervised by Michael Dickinson from Caltech. The density of air, ρ (Greek: rho) (air density), is the mass per volume of Earths atmosphere, and is a useful value in aeronautics. ... California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (commonly known as Caltech) is a private, coeducational university located in Pasadena, California, in the United States. ...

The population of a healthy hive in mid-summer can average between 40,000 and 80,000 bees. The workers cooperate to find food and are widely believed to use a pattern of "dancing" (known as the bee dance or waggle dance) to communicate with each other. Bees learn and communicate in order to find food sources and for other means. ...

Products of the honey bee

Pollination

Main article: Pollination management Pollination Management is the label for horticultural practices that accomplish or enhance pollination of a crop, to improve yield or quality, by understanding of the particular crops pollination needs, and by knowledgeable management of pollenizers, pollinators, and pollination conditions. ...

Beehives set up for pollination

The honey bee's primary commercial value is as a pollinator of crops. Orchards and fields have grown larger; at the same time wild pollinators have dwindled. In several areas of the world the pollination shortage is compensated by migratory beekeeping, with beekeepers supplying the hives during the crop bloom and moving them after bloom is complete. In many higher latitude locations it is difficult or impossible to winter over enough bees, or at least to have them ready for early blooming plants, so much of the migration is seasonal, with many hives wintering in warmer climates and moving to follow the bloom to higher latitudes. Placing honeybees for pumpkin pollination, Mowhawk Valley, NY Image copyleft: Image taken by me, released under GFDL Pollinator 05:54, Sep 19, 2004 (UTC) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Placing honeybees for pumpkin pollination, Mowhawk Valley, NY Image copyleft: Image taken by me, released under GFDL Pollinator 05:54, Sep 19, 2004 (UTC) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... A pollinator is the agent that moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female stigma of a flower to accomplish fertilization or syngamy of the female gamete in the ovule of the flower by the male gamete from the pollen grain. ... Pollinator decline is based on observations made at the end of the twentieth century of the reduction in abundance of pollinators in many ecosystems worldwide. ...

As an example, in California, the pollination of almonds occurs in February, early in the growing season, before local hives have built up their populations. Almond orchards require two hives per acre (2,000 m² per hive) for maximum yield and so the pollination is highly dependent upon the importation of hives from warmer climates. Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area Ranked 3rd - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 kmÂ²) - Width 250 miles (400 km) - Length 770 miles (1,240 km) - % water 4. ... Binomial name Prunus dulcis (Mill. ... An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs maintained for food production. ... An acre is an English unit of area, which is also frequently used in the United States and some Commonwealth countries. ...

Honey

Main article: Honey A jar of honey, shown with a wooden honey server and scones. ...

Honey is the complex substance made when the nectar and sweet deposits from plants and trees are gathered, modified and stored in the honeycomb by honey bees. Honey is sometimes also gathered by humans from the nests of various Stingless bees. // General Stingless bees belong to the subfamily Meliponinae in the family Apidae, which comprise the common honeybees, carpenter bees, orchid bees and the bumblebees. ...

Beeswax

Main article: Beeswax Beeswax cake Beeswax is a product from a bee hive. ...

Worker bees of a certain age will secrete beeswax from a series of glands on their abdomen. They use the wax to form the walls and caps of the comb. When honey is harvested, the wax can be gathered to be used in various wax products like candles and seals. A collection of lit candles on ornate candlesticks A close-up image of a candle showing the wick and the various regions of the flame. ... Seal on envelope A seal is an impression printed on, embossed upon, or affixed to a document (or any other object) in order to authenticate it, in lieu of or in addition to a signature. ...

Pollen

Main article: Pollen SEM image of pollen grains from a variety of common plants: sunflower (Helianthus annuus), morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea), hollyhock (Sidalcea malviflora), lily (Lilium auratum), primrose (Oenothera fruticosa), and castor bean (Ricinus communis). ...

Bees collect pollen in the pollen basket and carry it back to the hive. In the hive, pollen is used as a protein source necessary during brood-rearing. In certain environments, excess pollen can be collected from the hive. It is often eaten as a health supplement. honeybee pollen basket The pollen basket or corbicula is part of the hind tibia of the back (posterior) legs of the honeybee. ... A representation of the 3D structure of myoglobin, showing coloured alpha helices. ...

Propolis

Main article: Propolis Propolis is a wax-like resinous substance collected by bees from tree buds and used as cement and to seal cracks or open spaces in the hive. ...

Propolis (or bee glue) is created from resins, balsams and tree saps. Honey bees use propolis to seal cracks in the hive. Propolis is also sold for its reported health benefits. Holistic therapists often utilize propolis for the relief of many inflammations, viral diseases, ulcers, superficial burns or scalds, in conjunction with acupuncture, ayurveda or homeopathy. Propolis is also believed to promote heart health and reduce the chances of cataracts. Propolis is a wax-like resinous substance collected by bees from tree buds and used as cement and to seal cracks or open spaces in the hive. ... Sap exuding (gummosis) from the stem of a koa tree, probably in response to surface damage Sap is the fluid carried in tubules inside a plant, circulating to distribute food and water to various parts of the plant. ...

Hazards to honey bee survival

North American and European honey bee populations were severely depleted by varroa mite infestations in the early 1990s. Chemical treatments saved most commercial operations and improved cultural practices and bee breeds are starting to reduce the dependency on miticides (acaracides) by beekeepers. Feral bee populations were greatly reduced during this period but now are slowly recovering, mostly in areas of mild climate, owing to natural selection for varroa resistance and repopulation by resistant breeds.
Crop dusting insecticides and pesticides also deplete bees.
Africanized bees have spread across the southern United States where they pose a small danger to humans, although they may make beekeeping (particularly hobby beekeeping) difficult and potentially dangerous.
Various bee pests and diseases are becoming resistant to medications (e.g. American Foul Brood, Tracheal Mites and Varroa Mites).

World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... Common diseases, parasites, pests, and ailments of the honeybee include: // Varroa mites Varroa mite on a honeybee larva Main articles: Varroa destructor Varroa destructor and Varroa jacobsoni are parasitic mites that feed off the bodily fluids of adult, pupal and larval bees. ... See also 1990s, the band The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive, sometimes informally including popular culture from the very late 1980s and from 2000 and beyond. ... Natural selection is the process by which individual organisms with favorable traits are more likely to survive and reproduce. ... A insecticide is a pesticide used against insects in all development forms. ... Pesticides vary in their effect on bees. ... Africanized honey bees (AHB), also known as â€œkillerâ€ bees, are hybrids of the African honeybee, Apis mellifera adansonii (or by other reports ), with various European honeybees such as the Italian bee Apis mellifera ligustica. ... Common diseases, parasites, pests, and ailments of the honeybee include: // Varroa mites Varroa mite on a honeybee larva Main articles: Varroa destructor Varroa destructor and Varroa jacobsoni are parasitic mites that feed off the bodily fluids of adult, pupal and larval bees. ... Common diseases, parasites, pests, and ailments of the honeybee include: // Varroa mites Varroa mite on a honeybee larva Main articles: Varroa destructor Varroa destructor and Varroa jacobsoni are parasitic mites that feed off the bodily fluids of adult, pupal and larval bees. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Varroa destructor. ...

Environmental problems

As an invasive species, feral honey bees have become a significant environmental problem in places where they are not native. Imported bees may compete with and displace native bees and birds, and may also promote the reproduction of invasive plants that native pollinators do not visit. Also, unlike native bees, they do not properly extract or transfer pollen from plants with poricidal anthers (anthers that only release pollen through tiny apical pores), as this requires buzz pollination, a behavior which honey bees rarely exhibit. Gross and Mackay (1998) found that honey bees reduce fruiting in Melastoma affine (a plant with poricidal anthers) by robbing stigmas of previously-deposited pollen. Lantana Invasion of abandoned citrus plantation; Moshav Sdey Hemed, Israel; May 2, 2006 The term invasive species refers to a subset of those species defined as introduced species or non-indigenous species. ... Lantana Invasion of abandoned citrus plantation; Moshav Sdey Hemed, Israel; May 2, 2006 The term invasive species refers to a subset of those species defined as introduced species or non-indigenous species. ... Stamens of the Amaryllis with prominent anthers carrying pollen Insects, while collecting pollen, accidentally transfer it from one flower to another, bringing about pollination The stamen is the male organ of a flower. ... Some flowers are pollinated using buzz pollination. ... Binomial name Melastoma affine D. Don Melastoma affine, also known by the common names Blue Tongue or Native Lassiandra, is a shrub distributed in tropical and sub-tropical forests of India, South-east Asia and Australia. ...

Social choice lessons from honey bees

Honey bees have been shown to employ what in human terms would be called range voting to make hive-relocation decisions, see Myerscough (2003), Lindauer (1971) and this essay at the Center for Range Voting. Range voting (also called ratings summation, or average voting, or cardinal ratings, or 0-99 voting, or the score system or point system) is a voting system used for single-seat elections. ...

Honeybee predators

Insects

Robber Flies
Chinese mantid
Dragonfly
- Green Darner
Asian giant hornet - Japan
- Bald-faced hornet
Yellow jacket
Common Water Strider

Asilidae are a family of Diptera Asiloidea . ... A praying mantis, or praying mantid, is a large insect of the order Mantodea, named for their prayer-like stance. ... Families Aeshnidae Austropetaliidae Cordulegastridae Corduliidae Gomphidae Libellulidae Macromiidae Neopetaliidae Petaluridae A dragonfly is any insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera. ... Binomial name Anax junius (Drury, 1773) The Green Darner (Anax junius) is nicknamed Darning Needle because of its body shape. ... Binomial name Vespa mandarinia Smith, 1852 The Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia), the worlds largest hornet, is a native of temperate and tropical Eastern Asia. ... Binomial name Dolichovespula maculata Linnaeus The Bald-faced hornet or White-faced hornet Dolichovespula maculata is not a true hornet at all. ... Yellowjackets are black-and-yellow wasps of the genus Vespula or Dolichovespula. ... Genera Aquarius Gerris Halobates Limnogonus Limnoporus Metrobates Neogerris Rheumatobates Trepobates The Water strider, (also known as: Skater, Pond Skater, Jesus Bug, Water Skeeter, water scooter, water skater, Skimmer is any of a number of predatory insects in the family Gerridae (Leach 1815) that rely on the surface tension of water...

Spiders

Species M. vatia (Goldenrod crab spider) Misumena is a genus of crab spider. ... Genera Oxyopes (Common lynx spider) Peucetia (Green lynx spider) The Lynx spiders are hunting spiders somewhat similar to the wolf spiders and the jumping spiders. ... Species A. aurantia A. bruennichi The St Andrews Cross spiders are large and spectacular spiders of the genus Argiope, also commonly called black and yellow argiopes due to the markings on their abdomens. ... Diversity 99 species Species many more Dolomedes is a genus of spiders of the family Pisauridae. ...

Reptiles and amphibians

Binomial name Rana sylvatica LeConte, 1825 Wood Frog range Wood Frog is the common name given to Rana sylvatica. ... Binomial name Rana catesbeiana Shaw, 1802 The American Bull Frog (Rana catesbeiana) is an aquatic frog, a member of the family Ranidae, or true frogs, native to much of North America. ... Binomial name Bufo americanus (Holbrook, 1836) The American toad (Bufo americanus) is common subspecies of toad found throughout the eastern United States and Canada. ... Species see text Anolis is a genus of lizards belonging to the anole family, Polychrotidae. ...

Birds

Genera Nyctyornis Meropogon Merops The bee-eaters are a group of near passerine birds in the family Meropidae. ... Binomial name Archilochus colubris (Linnaeus, 1758) The Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Archilochus colubris, is a small hummingbird. ... Genera Many, see text. ... Binomial name Myiarchus crinitus (Linnaeus, 1758) The Great Crested Flycatcher, Myiarchus crinitus, is a large insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family. ... Binomial name Quiscalus quiscula (Linnaeus, 1758) The Common Grackle, Quiscalus quiscula, is a large blackbird. ...

Mammals

Contrary to popular perception, bears and honey badgers are brood predators; honey is only of secondary interest.

Binomial name Cryptotis parva (Say, 1823) The Least Shrew (Cryptotis parva) is one of the smallest creatures in the Class Mammalia, growing to be only up to 3 inches long. ... // Genera Conepatus Mydaus Mephitis Spilogale Skunks are moderately small mammals with black-and-white fur belonging to the family Mephitidae and the order Carnivora. ... Type Species Procyon lotor Linnaeus, 1758 Species Procyon cancrivorus Procyon insularis Procyon lotor Raccoons are nocturnal mammals in the genus Procyon of the Procyonidae family. ... Honey Badger (Ratel) Binomial name Mellivora capensis (Schreber, 1776) The Ratel (Mellivora capensis), also known as the Honey Badger, is a member of the Mustelidae family. ... Genera Ailuropoda Ailurus Helarctos Melursus Ursus Tremarctos Arctodus (extinct) A bear is a large mammal in the family Ursidae of the order Carnivora. ... Trinomial name Homo sapiens sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Humans, or human beings, are bipedal primates belonging to the mammalian species Homo sapiens (Latin for wise man or knowing man) under the family Hominidae (the great apes). ...

Honeybee communication

See also: Bee learning and communication

A honeybee swarm.

Honey bees are an excellent animal to study with regards to behavior because they are abundant and familiar to most people. An animal that is disregarded every day has very specific behaviors that go unnoticed by the normal person. Karl von Frisch studied the behavior of honey bees with regards to communication and was awarded the Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine in 1973. Von Frisch noticed that honey bees communicate with the language of dance. Honey bees are able to direct other bees to food sources through the round dance and the waggle dance. The round dance tells the other foragers that food is within 50 meters of the hive, but it does not provide much information regarding direction. The waggle dance, which may be vertical or horizontal, provides more detail about both the distance and the direction of the located food source. It is also hypothesized that the bees rely on their olfactory sense to help locate the food source once the foragers are given directions from the dances. Bees learn and communicate in order to find food sources and for other means. ... Download high resolution version (1687x1084, 359 KB)honeybee swarm File links The following pages link to this file: Honeybee Categories: Images with unknown source ... Download high resolution version (1687x1084, 359 KB)honeybee swarm File links The following pages link to this file: Honeybee Categories: Images with unknown source ... Karl von Frisch 1961 Karl Ritter von Frisch (1886-1982) was an Austrian ethologist who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1973 with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Konrad Lorenz. ... Nobel prize medal. ... Round dance is a term used in bee keeping, entomology and communication of social insects. ... A term used in beekeeping for a particular figure eight dance of the honeybee. ...

Another signal for communication is the shaking signal, also known as the jerking dance, vibration dance, or vibration signal. It is a modulatory communication signal because it appears to manipulate the overall arousal or activity of behaviors. The shaking signal is most common in worker communication, but it is also evident in reproductive swarming. A worker bee vibrates its body dorsoventrally while holding another honey bee with its front legs. Jacobus Biesmeijer examined the incidence of shaking signals in a forager’s life and the conditions that led to its performance to investigate why the shaking signal is used in communication for food sources. Biesmeijer found that the experienced foragers executed 92.1% of the observed shaking signals. He also observed that 64% of the shaking signals were executed by experienced foragers after they had discovered a food source. About 71% of the shaking signal sessions occurred after the first five foraging success within one day. Then other communication signals, such as the waggle dance, were performed more often after the first five successes. Biesmeijer proved that most shakers are foragers and that the shaking signal is most often executed by foraging bees over pre-foraging bees. Beismeijer concluded that the shaking signal presents the overall message of transfer work for various activities or activity levels. Sometimes the signal serves to increase activity, when bees shake inactive bees. At other times, the signal serves as an inhibitory mechanism such as the shaking signal at the end of the day. However, the shaking signal is preferentially directed towards inactive bees. All three types of communication between honey bees are effective in their jobs with regards to foraging and task managing.

Trivia

Honey bees are one of the very few invertebrates in which sleep-like behavior, similar in many respects to mammalian sleep, is known to exist.
Honey, as well as propolis, has antibiotic properties.
Honey bees are one of the very few invertebrates that produce a sort of "milk" for their young, royal jelly, which is the only food the larvae will eat early in development.
Like other social insects, they have an advanced immune system.
They have specially modified hairs on their body that develop a static electricity charge to attract pollen grains to their bodies.
They have a well developed sense of time (circadian rhythm).
They navigate by using a combination of memory, visual landmarks, colors, the position of the sun, smell, polarized light and magnetic anomalies.
Their aging is controlled by a hormone which regulates the production of a protein called vitellogenin.
The honey bee was a prominent political symbol in the empire of Napoleon Bonaparte, representing the Bonapartist bureaucratic and political system.
Worker honey bees can reproduce by parthenogenesis, but will necessarily produce only drones. Worker bees are sexually underdeveloped females, and their ovulation is ordinarily inhibited by hormonal signals provided to all hive members by a functioning queen. Should the queen bee die and a replacement not be available, inhibition of egg laying behavior among the worker bees will end, but the eggs they lay will be unfertilized and therefore can produce only drones. Absent a virgin queen, the colony will die out as the worker population dies out due to old age.

Propolis is a wax-like resinous substance collected by bees from tree buds and used as cement and to seal cracks or open spaces in the hive. ... Royal jelly is a type of bee secretion that aids in the development of immature or young bees. ... A circadian rhythm is a roughly-24-hour cycle in the physiological processes of plants, animals, fungi and cyanobacteria. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... Bonaparte as general Napoleon Bonaparte ( 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution and was the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from November 11, 1799 to May 18, 1804, then as Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français... In French political history, Bonapartists were monarchists who desired a French Empire under the House of Bonaparte, the Corsican family of Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon I of France) and his nephew Louis (Napoleon III of France). ... Kaguya is one success from 460 attempts at growing embryos. ...

Designated state insect

Arkansas (1973)
North Carolina (1973)
New Jersey (1974) - state bug
Georgia (1975)
Maine (1975)
Nebraska (1975)
Kansas (1976)
Louisiana (1977)
Vermont (1977)
Wisconsin (1977)
South Dakota (1978)
Mississippi (1980)
Utah (1983)
Missouri (1985)
Tennessee (1990) - official agricultural insect
Oklahoma (1992)
West Virginia (2002)

Official language(s) English Capital Little Rock Largest city Little Rock Area Ranked 29th - Total 53,179 sq mi (137,732 kmÂ²) - Width 239 miles (385 km) - Length 261 miles (420 km) - % water 2. ... Official language(s) English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Area Ranked 28th - Total 53,865 sq mi (139,509 kmÂ²) - Width 560 miles (901 km) - Length 150 miles (240 km) - % water 9. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Official language(s) None Capital Augusta Largest city Portland Area - Total - Width - Length - % water - Latitude - Longitude Ranked 39th 33,414 sq mi 86,542 kmÂ² 190 miles 305 km 320 miles 515 km 13. ... Official language(s) English Capital Lincoln Largest city Omaha Area Ranked 16th - Total 77,421 sq mi (200,520 kmÂ²) - Width 210 miles (340 km) - Length 430 miles (690 km) - % water 0. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Official language(s) English and French Capital Baton Rouge Largest city New Orleans at last census; probably Baton Rouge since Hurricane Katrina Area Ranked 31st - Total 51,885 sq mi (134,382 kmÂ²) - Width 130 miles (210 km) - Length 379 miles (610 km) - % water 16 - Latitude 29Â°N to 33... Official language(s) None Capital Montpelier Largest city Burlington Area Ranked 43rd - Total 9,620 sq mi (24,923 kmÂ²) - Width 80 miles (130 km) - Length 160 miles (260 km) - % water 3. ... Official language(s) None Capital Madison Largest city Milwaukee Area Ranked 23rd - Total 65,498 sq. ... Official language(s) English Capital Pierre Largest city Sioux Falls Area Ranked 17th - Total 77,163 sq mi (199,905 kmÂ²) - Width 210 miles (340 km) - Length 380 miles (610 km) - % water 1. ... Official language(s) English Capital Jackson Largest city Jackson Area Ranked 32nd - Total 48,434 sq mi (125,443 kmÂ²) - Width 170 miles (275 km) - Length 340 miles (545 km) - % water 3 - Latitude 30Â°13N to 35Â°N - Longitude 88Â°7W to 91Â°41W Population Ranked 31st... Official language(s) English Capital Salt Lake City Largest city Salt Lake City Area Ranked 13th - Total 84,876 sq mi (219,887 kmÂ²) - Width 270 miles (435 km) - Length 350 miles (565 km) - % water 3. ... Official language(s) None Capital Jefferson City Largest city Kansas City Largest metro area St. ... Official language(s) English Capital Nashville Largest city Memphis Area Ranked 36th - Total 42,169 sq mi (109,247 kmÂ²) - Width 120 miles (195 km) - Length 440 miles (710 km) - % water 2. ... Official language(s) None Capital Oklahoma City Largest city Oklahoma City Area Ranked 20th - Total 69,960 sq mi (181,196 kmÂ²) - Width 230 miles (370 km) - Length 298 miles (480 km) - % water 1. ... Official language(s) English Capital Charleston Largest city Charleston Area Ranked 41st - Total 24,244 sq mi (62,809 kmÂ²) - Width 130 miles (210 km) - Length 240 miles (385 km) - % water 0. ...

Sources

Biesmeijer, Jacobus. "The Occurrence and Context of the Shaking Signal in Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) Exploiting Natural Food Sources". Ethology. 2003.
Kak, Subhash C. "The Honey Bee Dance Language Controversy". The Mankind Quarterly. 2001.
Lindauer, Martin. "Communication among social bees". Harvard University Press 1971.
Myerscough, Mary R.: Dancing for a decision: a matrix model for nest-site choice by honeybees, Proc. Royal Soc. London B 270 (2003) 577-582.
Schneider, S. S., P. K. Visscher, Camazine, S. "Vibration Signal Behavior of Waggle-dancers in Swarms of the Honey Bee, Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Ethology. 1998.
Gross, C. L., Mackay, D. "Honeybees reduce fitness in the pioneer shrub Melastoma affine (Melastomataceae)". Biological Conservation, November 1998.
Engel, M., Grimaldi, D. "Evolution of the insects". Cambridge University Press 2005
'Honey Bee - Study of Northern Virginia Ecology'. Retrieved on 2006-01-01.

Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior considered as a branch of zoology. ... Michael S. Engel (born September 24, 1971 in Creve Coeur, Missouri) is a paleontologist and entomologist. ... David Grimaldi is an entomologist and Curator of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ...

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