Getting to Know the Honey Bee

The honey bee (Apis mellifera) is a social insect that lives in colonies of thousands of individuals, gets through the winter together and stores more honey than it needs. Beekeeping is possible because of these three traits. This page summarises the basics you need to know about the honey bee as a living creature before you start beekeeping.

What is a honey bee?

Honey bees are several species in the genus Apis. The main species kept by beekeepers worldwide is the western honey bee (Apis mellifera), native to Europe, Africa and the Middle East; humans have taken it to every continent. Apis cerana, kept in hives in Asia, the giant honey bee (Apis dorsata), which builds a single comb in the open, and the dwarf honey bee (Apis florea) also belong to this genus.

The species Apis mellifera is divided into many races (subspecies) adapted to their regions. Anatolia is a rich region where different races and ecotypes meet; the Anatolian bee and the Caucasian bee are the best known of them. Races differ in temperament, swarming tendency, wintering and adaptation to the local flora.

How do you tell a honey bee from a wasp or a hornet?

This is what beginners confuse most often. The honey bee is brown-golden, hairy and medium-sized; wasps and hornets are shiny, hairless and have a distinct yellow-and-black pattern.

Why is the colony a single unit?

A single honey bee cannot live apart from the hive for long. The colony, on the other hand, regulates its temperature, stores food, defends itself, fights disease and gets through the winter. That is why the beekeeper deals not with individual bees but with the colony.

The questions asked in an inspection are also about the colony: Is there a laying queen? Is the brood pattern healthy? Is there enough food and free space? Are there any signs of disease or pests?

Why can honey bees be kept in hives?

• They overwinter together: The colony continues from year to year; it is not built from scratch every spring.
• They store a surplus: They store more honey than they need to get through the winter; the beekeeper takes this surplus.
• They choose an enclosed cavity as a nest: In nature they settle in sheltered cavities such as hollow trees; the hive meets this natural preference.
• Their combs are regular: The bees leave a constant space between combs. Framed hives are designed to this bee space measurement, so the frames can be taken out and inspected one by one.
• They are relatively gentle: With the right race and calm handling they can be inspected.

Who lives in the colony?

• Queen: The only female that lays eggs; she holds the colony together with her pheromones.
• Worker bees: Non-reproducing females; depending on their age they clean, care for brood, build comb, guard and forage.
• Drones: Present in spring and summer; their only task is mating, and they have no sting.

At the summer peak a strong colony contains tens of thousands of workers, one queen and from a few hundred to a few thousand drones. For details, see the queen, worker and drone pages in the bee biology section.

The honey bee's annual cycle

Dates shift by weeks depending on region and altitude; the beekeeping calendar is built not on the names of months but on this cycle and the local flora.

How is honey made?

Forager bees carry the nectar they collect from flowers to the hive in their honey stomachs and pass it on to the young bees in the hive. The bees add enzymes to the nectar and evaporate its water by fanning their wings. When the nectar has thickened and ripened enough, the cells are sealed with a thin wax cap.

The bees also collect pollen and pack it into cells, turning it into a protein store called bee bread, used to feed the brood. Honey is the colony's energy source and pollen its building block; if either is lacking, the colony cannot develop.

The honey bee's role in pollination

As the honey bee moves from flower to flower, it carries pollen and brings about pollination. In orchards, oilseed crops and many vegetables, yield and quality depend on this service; that is why some growers bring hives into their orchards during flowering.

Pollination is not the work of honey bees alone. Bumblebees, solitary wild bees and other insects do it too, and are more effective on some plants. The honey bee makes use of a very wide range of flowers; if more hives are placed in an area than the environment can support, competition can arise with wild bees that depend on particular plants. Matching colony numbers to the resources of the environment is right both for yield and for nature.

Why do honey bees sting?

The honey bee is not an aggressive insect; it stings only to defend itself or its hive. The worker's sting is barbed and stays in mammal skin; the bee dies after stinging. In other words, stinging is a loss for the colony too. A bee working on a flower away from the hive usually takes no interest in anyone.

• Move calmly and slowly: Sudden movements and crushed bees spread alarm pheromone.
• Do not stand in the flight path: The area right in front of the hive entrance is the bees' motorway.
• Wear protective clothing: A veil is the minimum; prefer light-coloured clothing.