Bees living in separate hives form families, the main part of which are working individuals. Let us consider in more detail what a working bee is, its place in a bee family, what functions it performs and how it interacts with other members of the family.

Hierarchy in a bee family

The bee family has a clear hierarchy with a distribution of all the responsibilities that its members perform. The main thing in the hive is the uterus, it differs in body size, which reaches 20–25 mm in length and up to 300 mg in weight. The uterus lays eggs, up to 3 thousand units are laid per day, and 150–250 thousand eggs per season. The life expectancy of the uterus is about 8 years, however, its immediate functions are qualitatively fulfilled only 3 years. The uterus is called the main object of attraction in the hive. Nursing individuals are engaged in feeding it to ensure regular egg laying. The uterus has its own retinue - security guards who protect the head of the family, take care of her in the form of cleaning the hive and cleaning from stool. The head of the hive is capable of producing a special substance called uterine. This substance is mistaken for ferromone, which workers lick from the body of the uterus and spread throughout the hive to confirm the health of the uterus and the well-being of the whole family.

Important! After death, the uterus, if not removed from the hive, can disorient the bees for a long time, minimizing labor activity and working capacity of working individuals.

For mating, the uterus leaves the hive only in the first summer of its life, at the age of 7-12 days. It is noteworthy that individuals older than 24 days of drones are not attracted. The uterus makes 2 to 5 flights, during which it can mate with 6-10 drones. Such a number of mating allows you to accumulate up to 6-8 million sperm in the sperm receiver. A large number of males for mating is caused by natural necessity, which minimizes the possibility of obtaining dead eggs. For example, when mating with one drone, dead eggs make up half and more of the offspring, and mating with more than 6 males reduces this indicator to 6-12%. 4 hours after the mating process, eggs are laid. The eggs that the uterus can lay are fertilized (bee) and not fertilized (drone).

The head of the bee family is not always able to maintain the masonry at a high level, so there are often cases when the bee family independently eliminates the uterus and grows a new one. The brood or larvae that the female lays are an integral part of the bee family.

To become full-fledged working individuals, larvae go through several stages of development:

• 3 days after laying, white eggs turn into larvae;
• over the next 3–7 days, the larvae are actively fed with milk, then their diet is divided: part (3/4) of the larvae is transferred to bee bread and honey, and part (1/4) is continued to be fed with milk;
• then the cell with the larva is sealed with wax, preserving some food reserves inside - for the further development of individuals. After 10-15 days, working bees (sterile or asexual individuals) fed with bee bread and honey, uterus (fertile individuals) fed with milk and drones come out of the cells.

The uterus, which was fed with royal milk, does not tolerate rivals in the hive, so the first female who left the cell tries to find the rest of the queen cells and sting each one in order to eliminate it. If two uterus appeared simultaneously in the hive, they fight until one of them dies. The victorious uterus becomes the main one in the hive and proceeds to fulfill its immediate duties.

The base of the hive is made up of working individuals - they appear from the eggs that the uterus laid and after 20 days are ready for the hard work of caring for the hive. The size of the working individual is small, the body length is from 12 to 14 mm, weight is from 90 to 115 mg.

Did you know? Drones mate with the uterus outside the hive, in flight, the process itself lasts no more than 5 seconds and after mating, the male leaves a genital organ in the uterus, and he soon dies.

Drones are male bees that reach a body size of 15 to 17 mm in length and weigh between 200 and 250 mg. Drones emerge from unfertilized eggs, perform the function of fertilizing the uterus. The male has no sting, he does not work, unlike the working individuals, and is engaged in eating honey in large quantities. One drone consumes 20 times more honey than it weighs itself; therefore, working individuals feed males only during the mating period. When autumn comes, the bees cease to carry honey with drones and those, weakening, soon die.

In the bee colony, also, sometimes there are tinder rats that can quit fulfilling their immediate duties as a working individual and begin to consume large quantities of mother milk. This phenomenon occurs due to a prolonged absence of the uterus in the hive or an insufficient number of larvae. In ovaries, after consuming mother milk, ovaries actively develop, which leads to the laying of unfertilized eggs and the appearance of drones. Working bees often cannot feed a family with a lot of drones, which leads to the death of the family.

How does a bee work and what is its place in the hive?

Working bees in one family all come from the same uterus. This part of the bee family is constantly working, not for a second distracting from important matters.

The main list of work performed by the working individual is presented:

• collecting pollen and transporting it to the hive;
• the accumulation of pollen and its processing into honey, propolis and bee bread;
• feeding larvae, uterus, brood care;
• the production of wax for the construction of honeycombs;
• filling honeycombs with honey, sealing frames;
• cleaning the hive from excrement, debris, dust;
• maintaining the required temperature;
• guarding the hive from other insects;
• delivery of water to the hive for the needs of bees;
• warming the walls of the house, smearing holes and cracks with propolis;
• food delivery from the fields to the inhabitants of the hive;
• regulation of the amount of egg laying by the uterus.

Depending on the age of the working bee, it performs specific functions in the hive, but if necessary, young bees that are engaged, for example, in feeding brood, are taken to deliver nectar to the hive.

Did you know? In order to make 100 g of honey, 1 bee must fly around at least 1 million flowers, collecting pollen from each.

Conventionally, working bees are divided into hives and field. Hives are young individuals who have not yet reached the age of 3 weeks, they are the ones who do all the work that needs to be done to care for the hive and feed the brood. Older individuals are entrusted with the work of transporting nectar and water to their homes.

Life cycle of working bees

When winter ends, at the beginning of the first spring month, before warming on the street, the uterus activates and begins to lay eggs. Each egg hits the bottom of the cell. Three days later, larvae emerge from the eggs of the first masonry, which the working bees begin to feed. To feed the larvae, the bees bring mother milk in small quantities. Milk feeding lasts about 2 days, then brood is transferred to food by the so-called "bee bread", consisting of pollen, honey or nectar.

After another 6 days, the larvae are sealed in honeycombs with a wax layer. Inside the cell, the larvae spin cocoons and pupate. Before pupation of the larvae, the middle and posterior parts of the intestine join, which leads to complete cleansing and elimination of waste products accumulated over the entire period of the organism. In the stage of the pupae, significant changes in the appearance and internal structure of the body occur, wings, legs, sting develop, the nervous system forms.

Individuals that appear from the cells after 12 days, in the guise of young bees, are called "adults". The period of emergence of young individuals from the cells falls in early spring, so they wait for the peak of spring flowering to start the foraging - harvesting nectar in the goiter, which is enough to feed the bee family during the season of activity.

Factors affecting the life span of a working bee

One bee family can number tens of thousands of individuals, while their number is never stable, which is associated with a short life expectancy and the regular emergence of new young individuals. The main factor that influences the life span of bees is the strength of the family - the more fertile the uterus, the more active and strong its offspring. In addition, the life span of a working bee directly depends on the period of its appearance and exit from the cell. Since the uterus gives offspring several times during the season, the individuals that appeared in the fall will be stronger; they will not have to expend energy on collecting nectar and storing food for the winter. Worker bees that have been working all summer live less - about 6 weeks, and insects that pupate in the fall live about 6 months.

The quality of the food consumed and how much it is rich in all the necessary nutrients is very important for the bee. Bees live significantly less in areas that are considered poor for flowering herbs and trees. The life expectancy of bees that appeared in late autumn also depends heavily on weather conditions and air temperature in winter. If winters are too frosty, then some individuals simply freeze, without waiting for warming.

Important! In order to protect the bee family from the mass death of its members, it is necessary to carry out additional warming of the hives.

Thus, working bees are the main in number in the hive, they provide the family with food, collect nectar and produce honey. Information about the hierarchy of the bee family, the life expectancy of its members and the features of life is very important for beginning beekeepers to properly organize the work of the apiary.