Creating a Buzz

CREATING A BUZZ Honeybees play a crucial role in food production. Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is becoming a serious problem as more honeybees are disappearing. Symptoms of CCD Failure to return to hive; no evidence of dead bodies Rapid losses and in large numbers • Queen bee and adequate food supplies are left behind • Other insects and predators don't immediately invade abandoned hive Who's in there? Queen 2 • Fertile female; only one in a colony Surrounded Workers make six-sided cells from wax, which comes from glands in their abdomens; cells store honey or eggs 3 4 by workers who feed and groom her Only function is to lay eggs; lays about 1,500 a day, one at a time; can live 3-5 Inside a bee colony Commercial beekeepers travel with their colonies to farms to fertilize crops 5. Queen extruder Prevents queen 1. Roof 5 years 2. Crown board Allows beekeeper to check on colony from leaving; smaller worker bees can 7) pass through Drone 3. Super frames Frames fill with honey, then are easily removed and replaced 6. Brood body Queen and nursery for Males; hundreds in colony; have no stinger Drones do no work; cared for by workers • Task is to mate with the queen; their big eyes help them find her as she flies; die shortly after mating new bees housed here 4. Honey super 7. Entrance block Keeps other insects out Holds frames Fruits of labor Colony collapse spread • More than 80 American crops rely on commercial honeybee pollination • Produce $200 million worth of honey each year, but fertilize $15 billion in crops States affected Nation's bee colony population leaders Worker 5% 7% 7% • Infertile females; thousands in colony; are busy bees in their six-week-long life Clean hive Nurse feeding larvae • Build honeycomb Guard hive Responsible for pollinating 20% Alfalfa 60% Apples 90% 5% Almonds 100% 10% Onions 90% Collect pollen, nectar Broccoli 90% Bees actual size Source: Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium, U.S. Department of Agriculture, The Honey Pot Graphic: Melina Yingling © 2007 MCT