Knowledge Base (Bees)

With the term dwarf in its name, the Black Dwarf Honey Bee, like the Red Dwarf Honey Bee, is the smallest honey bee species we have in Singapore (and the World).

Visual identification between the two can be slightly tricky as they are very similar in size. To make things even more confusing, newly eclosed adults of the Black Dwarf Honey Bee tend to have slight reddish colouration on the top of their abdomen (making them look like the Red Dwarf instead).

But if you do a thorough inspection of the nest and notice that a section of the bees appear to be completely monochromatic (Black and White), then that is most likely a colony of Black Dwarf Honey Bees.

If you look at Colony Size III of the Black Dwarf Honey Bee card, it has a special keyword, Sensitive, and it reflects the general difficulty experienced while trying to rescue them. They react to the slightest movement and vibration by flying away from  the nest, making it more challenging to remove and relocate the whole nest. Black Dwarfs are best rescued at night, and more succesfully in areas with no alternative light sources. This is because the bees will fly towards the nearest light source when they feel any movement or vibration in the nest.

With the term dwarf in it's name, the Red Dwarf Honey Bees, like the Black Dwarf Honey Bee, is the smallest honey bee species we have in Singapore (and the World).

Red Dwarf Honey Bees have a very distinctive reddish/orange strip near the top end of their abdomen. The entire Colony should have the same distinctive marking.

Visual identification between the Red and Black Dwarf Honey Bees can be slightly tricky as they are very similar in size. To make things even more confusing, newly eclosed adults of the Black Dwarf Honey Bee tend to have slight reddish colouration on the top of their abdomen (making them look like Red Dwarf instead).

While the temperament and behaviour of every Colony is different, Red Dwarf Honey Bees generally tend to be the calmest of the lot. In a pinch, we have attempted and been generally successful at relocating nests of Red Dwarf Honey Bees in the morning/afternoon with minimal losses to the bees. This is in contrast to with the sensitivity of the Black Dwarf Honey Bees to movement and vibration.

Found extensively in the region, Red Dwarf Honey Bees were only first spotted in Singapore in 2011, so there are some questions on its legitimacy as a native species. But through my work with Bee Rescues and Relocations, I have experienced Red Dwarves relatively often and I felt that they needed to be part of the game! 

The Asian Honey Bee is probably one of the more common Honey Bee species in Singapore and is perhaps the closest cousin in look, size and behaviour to the Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

The Western Honey Bee (is natively found in the West, or Europe) is the most domesticated bee species and is often the species used in Apiaries for Honey Production worldwide. As such most people are familiar with this species through documentaries and social media.

The Asian Honey Bee is the only bee species in Singapore that builds its nest in cavities, so it is strangely the most suited to living in urban settings because undisturbed cavities can be found almost everywhere.

If their nest site meets all of their needs, they are the native species that is most likely to stay at one place the longest.

The subspecies we have in Singapore is most often Apis cerana javana.

As the name suggests, the Giant Honey Bee is the largest of the Bee Species native to Singapore. In fact, it is almost twice as large as every other Honey Bee.

Due to the large size of their nests (both in physical size and number of bees), Giant Honey Bees are only often found in forested areas. Nests (which can grow up to 1.5m in length) and swarm resting spots can only be supported by mature trees of sufficient height and branch strength.

Giant Honey Bees follow a migration pattern with the monsoon season. They fly hundreds of kilometers a year and some will make it as far as Northern Thailand.

Giant Honey Bees are the only Honey Bee Species that cannot be domesticated due to its highly aggressive nature/behaviour. When their nest is approached, up to 80% of the bees immediately adopt a defensive posture, ready to fly off and defend the nest at all cost!

But because Giant Honey Bees are the main source of wild honey (they produce large quantities), it unfortunately is leading to a decline in their numbers due to overharvesting from honey hunters.

We have more than 130 species of Bees in Singapore.

The 4 Honey Bee Species featured in this game are often the only ones that face the threat of extermination. They can grow to large numbers and they can sting so they area always perceived as problems when they move into or close to urban settings.

There are about 10 Stingless Bee species. Like Honey Bees, they also live in colonies but they are so tiny that they are often mistaken for wasps or other insects. They also do not sting so are not often thought of as threats.

The remaining 100 or so species are Solitary Bee species. Solitary bees often live and nest alone. Some species may display some social behaviour and live in the same area, but they never ever have large enough numbers to be treated as threatening.

Eclosion is the emergence of an insect from a pupa or egg.

There are 3 castes of Honey Bee: Queen, Worker and Drone.

Queens and Workers eclose from a fertilised egg (both are female), while Drones eclose from an unfertilised egg (male)

A Queen's main role is in laying eggs. She can lay up to 2 thousand eggs a day.

Workers tend to almost every other job in the nest, feeding, cleaning and defending the Colony.

Drones sole purpose is for mating. After the process of mating, they will die shortly after.

The Life Cycle of all Honey Bees in a Colony is primarily the same, but Queen, Drone and Workers have slightly different timelines in relation to reaching maturity (Adulthood) and how long they live.

Bee eggs are soft and is covered with a flexible covering called a chorion. In a process called eclosion, the chorion is dissolved and absorbed by the developing bee.

Once in the larval stage, it begins a massive feeding and growing process. Tended to by Nurse Bees (up to 100s of times a day), all larvae are fed a very nourishing clear liquid secreted by nurse bee glands called royal jelly for the first 2 days.

What then separates the Queen from Workers is that larvae destined for Queenhood will continue to only be fed with royal jelly, while the majorty who will be Workers are switched to nectar and pollen after the 3rd day.

When the larva has done sufficient growing and enters the pupa stage, the cell the pupa is in will be capped off with wax for the final bit of development.

The final adult bee will bite through the wax covering at about 20 to 21 days as a fully-formed bee (slightly less for Queens, and slightly more for Drones).

The Workers in a Honey Bee Colony have 3 main tasks and this division of labour is based on the age of the worker:

1. Nurse Bees: Newly eclosed (newly emerged from Pupal cell) Bees spend the first third of their adult life as Nurse Bees. A Nurse Bee’s main task is to keep the Colony fed and clean. Larvae, especially, need to be fed hundreds of times a day and the nurse bees are constantly kept busy.

2. Guard Bees: In the second third of their lives, the Bee's role changes to being a Guard Bee. Guard Bees are tasked with defending the nest with their lives. This is as literal as it can be, as any Guard Bee that uses its sting will die as a result. The tip of the Bee sting is barbed, so it catches in the flesh of the aggressor, and through a system of mechanical functions, will both dig deeper into the flesh as well as pump venom through the sting. But once used, this complex sting mechanism ruptures the internal organs of the Bee as it flies away, and it will die shortly after.

3. Forage Bees: If a Bee makes it to the last third of its life, its role will switch to Foraging. While the idea of collecting food does not seem particularly hazardous, it requires all of the Bee's experience to both survive all its natural predators and to be able to bring back food for the colony.

The changing role of the Worker Bee is an example of excellent resource management on the part of the Colony. The youngest bees carry out the least dangerous tasks, while those who are more experienced and are nearer the end of their natural life spans carry out the tasks which are more hazardous.

Overcrowding and an abundance of nectar and pollen is often the main cause that starts the reproductive cycle of Honey Bees.

The Old Queen will leave in a swarm with half of the worker bees to establish a new Colony elsewhere.

The remaining Worker bees will grow several new queens. Appropriate larvae will be chosen and placed in queen cells (a special peanut shaped cell that attaches to the main comb) and they will be fed copious amounts of royal jelly. The first Queen that emerges from the pupal cell will immediately use her sting to kill all the remaining sister Queens (Queen stings are not barbed, so it is the only Honey Bee that can reuse its sting multiple times). Survival of the fittest!

This new virgin Queen will then leave the Colony and fly towards a Drone Mating Zone where drones from multiple colonies are all waiting to mate with a Queen. To ensure the best genetic diversity, the Queen will mate with multiple drones in flight (Brother Drones from the same colony as the Queen are immediately excluded by pheromones). Only the best and fittest drones will be able to catch up with the Queen to mate. The drones die shortly after mating.

The newly mated Queen will then return to her Colony to begin her life as its Queen. And with this process, one Colony splits into two!

If for some reason a Colony loses their Queen, this is also the same Requeening process they will go through to try to get a new Queen.

Surprisingly... Yes! Workers are sterile so they can only produce unfertilised eggs that produce Drones.

Especially in a situation where the Queen has died for some reason and the Colony is slowing dying off, Workers start laying eggs and that may produce a few drones that can at least help with propagating the species.

Workers eggs are quite noticeable in a comb because they tend to lay multiple eggs in a cell vs a Queen who has much more practice and will only lay a single egg every time.

Just like ants, Bees take a hive mind approach to decision making. They vote on the outcome of decisions and majority rules.

So, No, while the Queen is crucial to the survival of the Colony, she is not actually the one to make decisions. If anything, once she comes back from her mating flight, she almost never leaves the nest and has very little idea of the world beyond it.

Honey Bees are only threatening when they are defending their nest. When they are out foraging, they will never be aggressive or want to sting you.

The key reason is that when a Honey Bee uses its sting, it will die soon after. When the barbed sting of a Honey Bee pierces soft flesh, it will stay in there, and in attempting to get free, it will rip away part of its abdomen and internal organs.

Giving up its life in defense of its nest (where all the colony's resources are stored) is the only reason that makes the use of the sting worth it.

Unfortunately, because a lot of wasps and hornets have a similar black and yellow colouring, a lot of "bee stings" are a case of mistaken identity.

Wasps and Hornets are generally a lot more aggressive and will not hesitate to sting you if they are annoyed. This annoyance can come from you trying to swipe them away or the use of a cologne or perfume that might be offensive to them.

They are capable of stinging you multiple times and will not die from stinging you.