Bee colonies are highly organized societies where each member plays a distinct role. This division of labor ensures the survival and prosperity of the group, contributing to the overall functioning of their colony.
The Role of Male Bees
Male bees, known as drones, do not produce honey. Their anatomy lacks the specialized features for foraging and honey creation. Drones do not possess pollen baskets on their hind legs, essential for collecting nectar and pollen. They also lack the wax glands that worker bees use to secrete wax for building honeycomb cells.
Drones do not have a barbed stinger, so they cannot defend the hive. Their primary purpose within the colony is to mate with the queen bee. Drones typically emerge in spring and summer, waiting for the opportunity to encounter a queen during mating flights.
Drones are larger than worker bees, with bigger eyes to locate queens during mating flights. After mating, drones die. Those that do not mate are expelled from the hive by worker bees as winter approaches, as they consume resources without contributing to the colony’s survival. Their lifespan often lasts only a few weeks to a few months.
Who Makes Honey?
Honey production is done by female worker bees. They possess specialized anatomical features to collect nectar, convert it into honey, and store it within the hive. Worker bees have a proboscis, a straw-like tongue, to suck nectar from flowers. They also have pollen baskets on their hind legs for gathering pollen, a vital food source.
Once nectar is collected, worker bees carry it back to the hive in their honey stomachs, a separate stomach from their digestive one. Inside the hive, they process the nectar by adding enzymes to convert complex sugars into simpler ones. This process, combined with fanning their wings to evaporate water, thickens it into honey.
Worker bees then deposit this partially processed honey into hexagonal wax cells within the honeycomb. These cells are constructed using wax secreted from their abdominal wax glands. The finished honey is capped with a layer of wax, sealing it for future consumption. Worker bees also maintain the hive, clean cells, and care for the young, contributing to the colony’s health and productivity.