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What's happening with our bees now?
Winter is a slow season for bees. Honey bees cluster together inside the hive, vibrating their flight muscles to stay warm. Doing this, honey bees can heat a hive to 90°F even throughout the freezing Minnesota winters! They eat all the pollen and honey gathered from the summer to sustain themselves until warmer days bring fresh flowers and nectar.
Queen
Queen
The largest bee in the colony. There is only one queen per colony. Her only job is to lay eggs. She can't sting and lives for 2 years. In this picture the queen bee is marked with a red sticker. Beekeepers mark their queen to keep track of her.
Worker
Worker
The majority of bees are workers. These are the bees you see in your yard. They have many jobs - raising young bees, getting nectar, collecting pollen, and defending their hive. They live about 90 days. All workers are female. The the bees in this picture are workers. These workers are taking care of the baby bees. We call the baby bees brood. Brood can look like larva or can be sealed. You can see both in this picture.
Drones
Drones
The male bees. They are slightly larger and have a stocky body. You can spot a drone by looking at his eyes, Drones have circular eyes that take up a lot of their head while workers eyes are smaller. Drones are a lot bigger and don't have stingers. Their only purpose is to mate with queen bees. In the fall drones are kicked out of the colony by worker bees.
Why are bees so important?
Why are bees so important?
Bees are pollinators. That means they go from plant to plant, flower to flower collecting pollen and nectar but also leaving behind a little pollen for the flower. All bees do this, not just honey bees. In Minnesota we have hundreds of different native bees that do some pretty cool things too! Without bees we would have no flowers. Bees also play an important role in the agriculture system. They help pollinate vegetables, fruits and nuts.
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