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Bees reproduce in the wild by swarming. The queen lays eggs, worker bees and young females emerge from fertilized eggs, drones are born from unfertilized eggs, their only function is reproduction. Reproduction of bees is the only way to preserve and increase the insect population not only in the apiary, but also in the wild.
Where do bees come from?
Bees create families in which functional loads are strictly distributed between individuals. Within one swarm, 3 types of insects coexist: workers, queen and drones. The responsibilities of worker bees include collecting honey, caring for offspring, and feeding the female. Drones (male birds) are responsible for fertilizing the queen. Their only goal is reproduction. The queen lays eggs and is the foundation of the bee colony, but she is not responsible for raising the offspring.
Bees reproduce in the wild naturally: by mating a female with a drone and swarming. In the latter case, part of the family leaves with the young queen and forms a new family.In apiaries, there is a method of artificial reproduction of families with the participation of a beekeeper. Reproduction is carried out by dividing the family, “by raiding the uterus”, by layering.
Natural reproduction of families of honey bees and other species
One of the methods of reproduction in bees is parthenogenesis, when a full-fledged individual is born from an unfertilized egg. In this way, drones appear in the family with a complete set of the genome characteristic of the species.
How do bees mate?
Drones and queens reach sexual maturity and the ability to reproduce on the 10th day after leaving the cell. Males fly out of the hive and move approximately 4 km away from the swarm. Drones from all families gather in a certain place at a height of 12 m above the ground.
The queen makes her first familiarization flights at the age of three days. The purpose of the flight is to study the area around the hive. There may be several approximate flights. When she reaches sexual maturity, she is ready to reproduce. In warm weather conditions, it flies out to fertilize. The female bee secretes a secretion, the smell of which the drones react to. Mating with representatives of their own family does not occur. Drones do not react to their “sisters”, only to females from another swarm.
Mating in bees takes place in the air; at the moment of fertilization, insects fall to the ground, so they do not fly over water or near bodies of water. The queen makes several mating flights lasting 20 minutes. In the process of fertilization of one female, up to 6 drones or more are involved.
Throughout the entire process of reproduction, the stinging canal of the uterus remains open.When the paired oviducts are completely filled with the biological material of drones, she clamps the canal, the copulatory organ of the last male is torn off, closing the passage, and the drone dies. The arrival of a female into the hive with a white film near her abdomen is a signal that fertilization is complete. After a few hours the “trail” comes off.
Fertilization process:
- The male's seminal fluid is forcefully pushed into the ejaculation channel.
- Following the sperm, a secretion is released from the accessory glands, which propels the seminal fluid to the exit.
- Sperm is injected into the female's oviducts.
- Some of the liquid flows out, a large mass enters the seminal receptacle.
When the receiver is full, up to 6 million sperm accumulate in it. In case of bad weather, the queen's flight is delayed. The reproductive period of a female individual lasts about 1 month. If during this period she was unable to fertilize, then only drones are obtained from the clutch.
Stages of development
The process of fertilization of the egg and mating diverge in time. Queen bee fertilizes eggs at the time of laying and does this throughout the entire period of reproductive life. Cherrying is carried out in empty cells, they are different in size (drone ones are larger). At the moment of laying, the female injects seminal fluid from the seminal receptacle onto the egg. An egg laid in a drone cell remains unfertilized. The productivity of the queen per day is about 2 thousand eggs. Laying begins in February, after the insects have overwintered. Under favorable conditions in the hive (+350 C) frames with brood are observed in spring. Maintaining the microclimate in the hive is the function of working individuals. Insects do not leave drones for the winter.
In the process of formation of bees, 5 stages are monitored:
- egg (embryonic stage);
- larva;
- prepupa;
- chrysalis;
- imago (formed adult).
The embryonic stage lasts 3 days, division of the nucleus occurs inside the egg, and during the crushing process, cells appear that form the wings, body and genitals of the insect. The inner shell of the egg ruptures and a larva emerges.
Postembryonic development takes place in several stages lasting up to 3 weeks. The larva is equipped with special glands that secrete secretions to form a cocoon. Outwardly, it does not look like an adult insect; immediately after emergence it looks like a rounded fatty body measuring 1.5 mm. The brood feeds on a special substance generated by adult bees. At the age of three days, the size of the larva reaches 6 mm. In 1 week, the initial weight of the brood increases 1.5 thousand times.
During the first 24 hours, the brood is fed with milk. The next day, the drones and workers are transferred to honey mixed with beebread; the queens are fed only milk until the end of formation. Eggs and larvae are located in open honeycombs. On day 7, a cocoon is formed around the prepupae, and the honeycombs are sealed with wax.
Bee development by day:
Stage | worker bee | Uterus | Drone |
Egg | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Larva | 6 | 5 | 7 |
Prepupa | 3 | 2 | 4 |
Doll | 9 | 6 | 10 |
Total: | 21 | 16 | 24 |
On average, the birth of a bee from egg to adult takes 24 days.
How do bees appear?
After the cell is clogged, the larva creates a cocoon and remains motionless. During this time, all organs of the insect are formed. The pupa looks like an adult bee. After the formation period has expired, the insect’s body turns dark and becomes covered with fluff.The insect has a fully developed aircraft, organs of vision and smell. This is a full-fledged bee, which is distinguished from an adult individual by its size and color tone. A young bee is smaller and lighter in color. All this time, the children feed on the beebread left in front of the blockage. After complete formation, before birth, the bee gnaws through the wax covering and comes to the surface.
How a queen bee is born
From the moment the eggs are laid, the appearance of a new queen is regulated by worker bees. A new queen can be born from any fertilized egg, it all depends on the feeding of the brood. If the babies are subsequently transferred to honey and bee bread, then the young queens are left to remain on constant feeding with royal jelly. After clogging, the honeycombs are filled with milk. Visually, they are larger; there are up to 4 bookmarks per family.
After formation, the future queen is still in the comb until the food runs out. Then it gnaws a passage and appears on the surface. Her development cycle is shorter than that of drones and worker bees; immediately after birth, the queen destroys rivals that have not yet appeared. There will only be one queen left in the family. If the beekeeper does not remove the old queen in a timely manner, the colony enters a state of swarming.
Swarming as a method of propagation of bee colonies
In the wild, swarming is a normal reproductive process for bees. In apiaries, they try to prevent this method of reproduction. Prerequisites for swarming are:
- The appearance of a large number of young bees.
- Cramped room.
- Excess nutrition.
- Poor ventilation.
Young individuals remain idle, the entire functional load is distributed among the old insects. They begin to lay several queen cells. This is a sign of future swarming.The reason for leaving is often the old queen, who is unable to fully produce the pheromones that bees are focused on. The faint odor of the uterus causes anxiety and the need to lay new queen cells.
Young bees left without work begin to accumulate near the entrance. The old queen is transferred to honey and bee bread, she decreases in weight and size, this is preparatory work before her departure. The swarm emerges 10 days after the egg is placed in the queen cell. The main composition is young insects. First, scout bees fly around to find a new nest site. After their signal, the swarm rises, flies a short distance and lands.
The bees remain at rest for about 1 hour, during which time the queen joins them. Once the queen has reunited with the main mass, the swarm flies a long distance and will be almost impossible to catch. In the old hive, 50% of the bees from the former family remain, among them there are no young individuals. Thus, the process of population reproduction in the wild takes place.
How to propagate bees artificially
In apiaries, beekeepers try to prevent swarming. This method is not suitable for reproduction. The process affects the productivity of bees; a swarm that has left is difficult to catch, and insects often fly away forever. Therefore, reproduction is carried out artificially: by dividing families, by layering, by “attacking the uterus.”
Family division
The goal of this breeding method is to turn one overcrowded family into two. Reproduction algorithm by division:
- Next to the old hive, they place one similar in shape and color.
- 12 frames are placed in it, 8 of them with brood, the rest with beebread and honey. The frames are moved while the bees are sitting on them.
- Place 4 frames with empty foundation.
- The uterus is implanted. For the first 2 days, she is kept in a special structure and the behavior of the bees is observed. If there is no aggression from the working insects, the queen is released.
In the new hive, the young female begins laying eggs in empty cells. The old hive and some of the bees will remain in the other hive. Reproduction in this way has the only drawback: the bees may not accept the new queen.
Layering
This method of reproduction involves the formation of layering from different families. Before propagating families, the queen bee is removed using this method or a frame with a queen cell is taken. Create conditions for maintaining a future swarm:
- Cooking cores.
- The female in the layer should be sterile.
- They take 4 frames with bees from donor, strong families, put them in the hive, and shake off the bees from 2 frames there.
- Place 3 frames with food and start the uterus.
This method of reproduction is quite productive; after fertilization, a barren female will begin laying eggs, and workers will take care of her and the brood.
Method "raid on the uterus"
This option of artificial propagation is carried out if signs of swarming are observed in the hive. The approximate time for reproduction is from the second half of May to July 15. This is the time of active honey collection; the “raid” is carried out in the first half of the day, when most of the insects are flying around. Family reproduction sequence:
- They prepare the hive, put the old one aside, and put a new one in its place.
- Place frames with honey (about 5 pieces).
- Place 3 frames with wax.
- The queen is transferred from the old hive to the new one with a brood frame.
Most of the workers will return to their female. In the old hive, young animals will remain; they will be given a frame with a queen cell. Reproduction ends after the appearance of a young female.Bees, overloaded with work, stop swarming.
Conclusion
Bees reproduce in the wild by fertilizing a female and then swarming - this is a natural way. They try to prevent reproduction by this method in apiary conditions. On beekeeping farms, bees are propagated artificially: by dividing the colony, layering, or transplanting the fertile female into a new hive.
