EdCC Hive Check [June 1st, 2016]

Hey everyone!
I had the opportunity to do a hive check on campus with Mary Whitfield. It was very interesting to learn about bee hive upkeep and how honey bees work. We have two different types of honey bees on campus, the Caucasian Honey Bee and the Orange Italian Honey Bee. Below is generally what a hive looks like, our bee hives have one addition brood box.

General build of a bee hive.

During the hive check, we checked the progress of brood and honey production, looked at the floor of the hive to see if there are any mites present, as well as see if the bees are bringing in pollen. We also fed the bees with pollen patties since an earlier check on the Caucasian Honey Bees indicated that they may not be bringing in as much pollen as they should. In addition to the hive check, we also looked at plants in the community garden to see if the honey bees were going to them but we only found bumblebees.

General Bee Information
There are three different castes of bees. Caste is a physically distinct individual with a particular function in the colony.

The Queen Bee

• The queen bee is large with a long, slender, and tapered abdomen. Normally marked by beekeepers for easy identification. 
• The heart of the colony, she is the reason for what the rest of the colony does and without her, the colony would collapse.
• Only one queen bee lives in a given colony
• The only bee with fully developed ovaries
• She can lay many eggs! During peak times, she can lay up to 2,000 eggs in a day (laying during the day and night). 

Drone Bees

• Larger than a worker bee, has more of a barrel shape with very large eyes
• Does not have a stinger to defend the colony and does not have the anatomy to collect pollen
• The only male bee of the colony, makes up a very small percentage of a given hive
• A drone's only function is to mate with the queen bee
• Drones develop from unfertilized eggs therefore solely receiving characteristics from their mother. Technically, they have a grandfather but not a father!

Worker Bees

• The smallest bee of the colony, worker bees have short abdomens and have pollen baskets on their hind legs.

• Non-reproducing females
• The backbone of the hive, they literally do all the work and tend to the queen's needs
• Their work can depend on their age however may do any required work after they are ten days old. Their jobs include maid, nanny, royal attendant, heating and cooling specialist, guard, and undertaker. 

Orange Italian Honey Bee

Caucasian Honey Bee

Originally Italy Have become the most popular bee in the United States as they are considered the best all-purpose bee Yellow coloring with bands on abdomen Worker bees are light in color and queen bee is darker in color markings therefore making the queen easy to locate Relatively gentle and non-aggressive Moderate tendency to swarm Colonies are usually large Great foragers Winter well Keeps a clean hive & readily builds comb Have a strong tendency to rob

Originated from the high valleys of the Central Caucasus Silver gray to dark brown in color Have a longer tongue than most races and can thereby take advantage of more nectar sources than most Relatively gentle and non-aggressive Moderate tendency to swarm Large and strong population Forages earlier and on cooler days Winter well by stopping brood production in the fall Slow spring startup Are not prone to rob

Definitions
BROOD: bee larvae
ROB: Stealing honey from another hive
SWARM: A process by which a new bee colony is formed when the queen bee leaves the colony with a group of worker bees


Sources
Bee Hive Build - http://www.coxshoney.com/honey-articles/beehives-makeup-bees-home
Bee Identification - http://pcbeekeepers.org/classes/beginning-beekeeping-class-monthly-lessons
Bee Caste Information - http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-identify-the-three-castes-of-bees.html & http://westmtnapiary.com/bee_castes.html
Pollen Basket Photo - http://www.michiganbees.org/2012/march-2012-beedoku/
Italian Honey Bee and Caucasian Honey Bee Information - https://www.mannlakeltd.com/newsletter/races-honeybees.pdf
Caucasian Honey Bee - https://wadesbees.wordpress.com/2010/10/19/races-of-bees-caucasians/
Italian Honey Bee -

http://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/bees-bees-and-more-bees-featured-at-ucd-open-houses-saturday/