Busy as a Bee - The Days of the Life of a Honey Bee

The life span of the worker bee is just six weeks (42 days). Every one of those days, from the moment the bee emerges it has specific tasks. Initially, the responsibilities include tasks performed within the hive. At this point, the bees are referred to as house bees. As they get older and their duties involve work outside of the hive, the bees are known as field bees. In some instances, the occupations change within minutes and they sometimes overlap.

Days	Task
1 - 3	Housekeeping - Cleans and polishes cells in preparation of new eggs and for storing nectar and pollen.
3 - 16	Undertaking - Removes any dead bees and disposes of the corpses as far away from the hive as possible.
4 - 12	Working in the Nursery - Feeds and cares for the developing larvae.
7 - 12	Attending to the Queen - Groom and feed the queen.
12 - 18	Nectar and Pollen Placement - Deposits the nectar and pollen from the returning field bees into the cells.
12 - 18	Fanning - Controls the temperature and humidity of the hive while evaporating the moistures from the curing honey. Is also a form of communication
12 - 35	Comb Builders - Produces beeswax for making new comb and for capping cells.
18 - 21	Guarding the Hive - Stationed at the entrance of the hive to make sure returning bees are, in fact, family.
22 - 42	Foraging Bees - Orientation flights help the bees learn the landmarks to help find their way home before joining the ranks of the field bees.

First Inspection of the Hive

It was a real treat checking the hive for the first time today! The girls were quite calm and busily doing their thing while I checked each frame. The center most where the queen cage had been now has eggs, larva and covered brood! The comb is pretty much drawn out on the inner most frames with pollen and nectar (or is is sugar water?) stored in them. The outer six frames (three on each side) have not yet been drawn out.

We could easily spot the queen, thanks to her marking but even without the mark, her size gives her away. I was really surprised at the amount of eggs and larva present. The industrious bees get right to work when installed in their new home.

Enjoyed watching a couple of bees doing the waggle dance which is used as a means to communicate the location of a good source of nectar or pollen. The waggle dance is performed by first shaking quickly from side to side and then doing one half of a figure eight, returning to the starting point and pausing to shake again before doing the other half of the figure eight. The shaking, direction of the figure eight and length of the dance transmit to the field bees exactly where they can find this particular source of food.

Bees 2, Beekeeper 0

I was standing to the side of the hive this afternoon, and well... I was actually leaning on the top as I enjoyed listening to the ping ping of the rebel bees trying to use their bottom door. I was also leaning over towards the front of the hive watching the bees come and go. AND because I was disregarding every rule of safe beekeeping, I even had on a black long sleeved t-shirt which was layered under a lighter short sleeved t-shirt. AND of course I wasn't wearing my veil when a guard bee came up to investigate me, getting tangled up in my bangs.

I am not the least bit surprised that it stung me in the forehead.

First Peek

Took a first peek into my own hive today to ensure the queen was released and to get a feel for the overall health of the hive. The queen is out and probably under this cluster in the photo. All looks well to me.

The larger gap created by having the queen cage installed allowed for a nice view of the light cream wax combs being drawn out from the black foundations.

Also swapped out the screen used on the bottom board. I had initially placed two layers of 1/4" hardware cloth offset by half in an attempt to make 1/8" openings but as hardware cloth is not exactly square, some openings were of the desired size while others were either too small or too large. The bees quickly found the larger openings to be just large enough for to use as another entrance to the hive. After replacing the screen with one of the correct size, I could hear the ping, ping of the rebel bees against the metal hardware cloth as they still tried to use the "bottom door".

Productive Weekend for the Hive

While the overnight temps were quite cool this first weekend home for the bees, the days were sunny with a nice breeze. The trees currently in full bloom as evidenced by the yellow pollen covering the vehicles, deck, sidewalk, etc. I was tickled to see the field bees returning to the hive with their pockets full of two different colors of pollen. One was a pretty vanilla-cream color with the other a bright orange. I can't wait for my first peek into the hive to see how they've got it stored!

The Party Drone

Checked in on the hive as I headed out for my morning exercise. Spotted there on the front, and as still as could be from the cool temperature, was a lone drone. I had to chuckle! It was almost as if he was caught out too late after curfew and couldn't get in. :-)

Actually, this drone is in a chill-coma. Chill coma occurs when the temperature is such that the bee can no longer warm itself. In this state the bee appears dead but as the temperature increases the bee, too, will warm and eventually return to normal activity.

By the time I returned from my run the sun was up a bit and the drone had moved on. Many bees were flying around the front of the hive, up and down, side to side, orientating themselves to the hive's location. All seems well with the apiary!

Bees 1, Beekeeper 0

Spent today just waiting for the workday to end so that I could get home and install the bees. The late afternoon was calm and not too warm. The girls were clustered nicely in the cool of the garage and were given a bit of sugar water to fill their bellies and keep them satisfied during the transfer to their new home. Not one to worry about getting stung, I didn't think twice that my shirt wasn't all that loose. At least it was bee-friendly white. The fit of the shirt, however, would come back to haunt me...

Extracting the queen cage was simple enough. There were a number of attendants with her and the sugar plug was still going strong. I easily set her up attached to a frame. But removing the can of sugar water was a bit difficult as sat down in the box a bit. While slowly lifting it clear of the opening, I got my first taste of how quickly those little bees can wiggle through the smallest of spaces! But so far, so good. All was proceeding exactly as expected until what came next...

I have not read anything about this nor was it ever mentioned in the Short Course what happens when you gently tap the box in order to get the bees down in the bottom and ready to dump into the hive. The sound of the collective buzz put me on alert that this seems like one angry box of bees and I'm supposed to open it up and then dump them loose? Well, okay...

The second I removed the covering I found myself standing in a swirl of pissed off bees. That didn't bother me so much until I realized that my shirt was not as loose as I had hoped and I got stung on the arm. Now, a bee sting really does not hurt all that much. Frankly, I'm troubled more from the discomfort of a tick bite than I am the bee sting, and I'm suffering from both at the moment.

While I paused that millisecond, wondering how many more stings I was about to get through my shirt, my husband took off shouting something about the black hat he was wearing. I was so focused on getting the bees installed that I didn't give a thought as to what he may be wearing - he was only the photographer, after all.

I really wasn't as disturbed by the swirling mass of angry bees as I was interested in how many more bees were still in the box and how easy it was to dump them onto the queen cage and into the hive. I installed the rest of the frames, filled the top feeder, put the lid on and placed the entrance reducer in the opening. Bees installed: Done!

The Girls Arrived!

Picked up the package of bees tonight after work. It was the neatest experience to walk into the garage at Free State Bees and hear the hum of thousands of bee wings! The odd loose bee would slowly buzz around our heads and I'm totally enthralled with these little creatures.

Holding the package for the 6 mile ride home allowed me to really study the bees up close in a way that I never have before. Most of the girls were clustered around the queen and the swarm seemed to almost breathe as one, moving with the sway of the vehicle. I could easily pick out the drones with their larger size.

Installation of the package into the hive will have to wait until tomorrow as I had a class tonight. The bees are settled in on the floor of the garage. Checking on them after dark and in the cooler temperature, I got a good sense of what they will be like once inside the hive. Where this afternoon there was much movement, tonight the bees are nearly all still. I watched them for some time as I know this was a rare opportunity to experience the bees in this state.

So, the hive body has been readied, the stand is in place in the garden and I've reviewed how to install the package of bees. Tomorrow is move-in day!