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Honeybee
The honeybee (
Apis mellifera
L.) is a species
of hymenoptera insects, belonging to the
Apidea family, the Apis genus, which includes
the species that produce honey. This species is
found worldwide and is the most populous and
most common representative of the Apis genus.
The subspecies of the honeybee are divided into
four groups based on the area of
distribution
and behavior: I) dark bees from Northern and
Western Europe and North Africa, II) bees from
the Balkans and related bees, III) oriental bees,
IV) African bees.
Depending on the species, bee families consist
of anywhere from several thousand up to
80 thousand individuals. All species of the
Apis genus live in organized communities on
constructed vertical wax honeycombs, which
consist of hexagonal cells on both sides of
a central wall. The bees raise their brood and
store food supplies in these cells. They are able
to maintain a constant hive temperature. Bees
are polymorphic: aside from the typical female
form – the mother (queen bee) and the male
form – the drone, there is also a third form – the
worker bee. The colony consists of a queen bee,
tens of thousands of
worker bees
and several
thousand
drones.
The main task of the queen
bee is to lay eggs. The only task of the drones
is to mate with the queen bee. Worker bees
perform all the work necessary to sustain the
bee family, and the type of work depends on
the age of the individual bee (age polyethism).
The bees form a colony due to the strong impact
of the queen bee’s pheromones, regular changes in
the glandular activity and communication by means
of dances and sounds. The reproductive domination
of the queen bee is also maintained due to the
pheromones.
Bees are an extremely organized group of animals,
specialized in the processing of the nectar and
pollen collected on flowers and the coniferous and
deciduous honeydew into food. The life of a single
worker-bee as well as the entire family revolves
around the daily completion of this task. Honeybees
are a species strategically important for humans
and the whole environment because during the
collection
of nectar
and the
flower pollens,
they
also pollinate
entomophilus plants.
It is estimated
that the benefits provided by bees through the
pollination of many cultivated and wild plant
species exceed the value of all bee products
(honey, beeswax, propolis, pollen, bee bread,
royal jelly, bee venom) by a factor of several
dozen.
Dr hab. Beata Madras-Majewska, prof. SGGW
(Warsaw University of Life Sciences)