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Almost every person who shows an interest in beekeeping wonders how many bees are in one hive. Of course, counting insects one at a time is not an option. Firstly, this will take more than one day, since there can be tens of thousands of bees, and secondly, this is basically impossible, since insects are small in size and are in constant motion. To perform a count, you first need to study information regarding the hierarchy of insect data, and then apply one of the calculation methods.
What factors influence the number of bees in a hive
The number of all organisms is influenced by various factors and reasons. The number of people in a hive is affected by the following circumstances:
- Presence of weak uteruses. Such individuals produce weak offspring, which subsequently affects the performance of the entire family. In turn, this will cause a lag in the development of the hive;
- Problems with keeping strong families at the same level. With a constant change in their numbers, insects lose the ability to independently produce strong offspring;
- A small amount of nectar, water and bee bread. Lack of bribe negatively affects the uterus.Its brood turns out to be weak, as a result of which the total population of the hive decreases;
- Air temperature during the brood period. For good offspring, warm weather is necessary: only in this case is it possible to have a good influx of queens, as well as workers;
- The brood should be open, which will allow the worker bees to feed the queens well. All this contributes to the emergence of strong individuals in the family;
- Large number of queens. The vigor of the brood depends on the quality of the resulting queens.
How many bees are in one family
A family of bees can be considered a kind of state, since they have a certain hierarchy, headed by the queen. The main task of queens is to produce offspring.
Drones make up a small part of the bee colony. They come from eggs that have not been fertilized. Their main task is to mate with the queen of the family.
According to observations, one bee colony can contain about 100 males. All others become exiles. Some of them will die, some will mate with the queen of another family. Upon completion of their mission, the drones die.
The main part of the insects that populate the hive consists of working individuals that perform different functions. Responsibilities depend on age:
- The cocoon stage lasts about 3 weeks. When small bees appear on the count, from the first day they take over the experience of older individuals;
- During the first 2 weeks, bees not only eat, but also begin to clean their personal cell;
- At day 18 of life, bees begin to produce wax, which they need to build honeycombs;
- Then the young individuals move to the entrance, where they continue to observe the life of their family;
- A month after birth, workers begin to collect nectar.From this moment on, they can be considered adults.
At the height of honey harvest, one bee colony can number about 80 thousand bees.
How many bee colonies are in one hive?
Only one family of bees can live in 1 hive. The only exception is the breeding season, since at this time a new queen appears. The process of forming a new swarm begins, upon completion of which it leaves the hive.
How many bees are in the hive
To see the entire family, you must wait until the evening, since it is during this period of the day that the entire colony returns to the hive. But even so it is difficult to say exactly how many bees are in one hive. The number of these insects also greatly depends on the time of year.
How the number of bees in a hive changes depending on the season
The largest population growth occurs in the spring. The reason for this is the appearance of flowering on plants, which are subsequently pollinated by bees. In mid-spring, the population in the hive can reach 80 thousand individuals.
The renewal of the insect family occurs in May. At this time, the old generation of individuals that survived the winter leaves the colony. Even before the start of summer, the number of young bees in the colony will reach 95 percent. If we translate these data into numerical form, this will amount to about 85 thousand insects.
It is during this period that it is necessary to separate families, because if this is not done, you can lose 50 percent of the population of the colony.Immediately after separation, the bee colony begins to prepare supplies for the winter.
As autumn approaches, the queen bee slows down the rate of egg laying, and eventually stops altogether. The total number of insects is also reduced due to the fact that workers drive males out of the colony.
In winter, the colony is not involved in anything. During cold weather, many bees living in the hive die. With the onset of spring, the queen begins to lay eggs again, which is why the bee family is replenished. This insect life cycle repeats from year to year.
Several ways to count the number of bees in a hive
All beekeepers approach their work very responsibly. Many of them even keep a special diary in which they indicate the approximate population of each colony.
Of course, it is impossible to determine the exact number of individuals of an insect family. Despite this, it is still possible to calculate the approximate number of inhabitants of the hive.
In a bee family, each individual has its own direct responsibilities and must fulfill them, therefore all bees are in their place, namely:
- Nursing bees: are engaged in saturating the brood;
- Builders; carry out the construction of new cells;
- Queen: together with her retinue is located on the sowing combs.
Method 1
A standard frame can accommodate about 3.3 thousand cells. A worker bee reaches a size of 1.5 centimeters. One side of the honeycomb frame can accommodate about 1.1 - 1.15 thousand bees. If you count the number of insects on both sides, you get about 2.2 – 2.3 thousand individuals. The resulting number must be multiplied by the number of frames in the hive. Thus, it is possible to calculate the number of the entire bee family.
Method 2
The second option for determining the size of the hive population is to calculate the weight of the insect. When making this calculation, you need to take into account the type of bees being bred, since the weight of different species can vary greatly.
First of all, you need to find out the weight of the hive and frames without bees. Then, having covered the entrance, it is necessary to determine how much the hive weighs with the bees. The first number is subtracted from the second number and the result is divided by the weight of the bee. The resulting number will be the approximate number of individuals of this family.
Conclusion
One bee hive can contain tens of thousands of insects. Each individual has a duty assigned to it, which it diligently fulfills: the queen is responsible for the birth of new offspring, the drone is responsible for fertilizing the queen, and worker bees collect nectar and build new honeycombs. The size of one family varies depending on the time of year.
