what makes you amazing in division of work in honey bee colony
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Honey bees are one of the most fascinating insects on the planet! Aside from making delicious honey, honey bees are interesting because of their ability to live in a colony with their sisters and a queen. This type of social behavior is called eusociality.
Eusociality exists in many other insects. Ants, bumble bees, paper wasps, and termites are all examples of eusocial insects that live together in a colony comprised of workers and a queen. Within eusocial colonies there exist division of labor between multiple castes of workers. For instance, in honey bees there are two types of workers, nurse bees and forager bees. Honey bee division of labor is also age-dependent, where the youngest bees become nurses and the oldest become foragers. A worker bee will dedicate her entire life to the wellness of the hive. As soon as a honey bee emerges as an adult, her main duty is to clean the hive, feed the brood (larvae), receive food from foragers, and build honey comb.
Once nurse bees are about 2 weeks old they switch tasks and begin to guard the colony entrance and clean out the dead. After they're about 3 weeks old they become foragers and begin to exit the hive in search of pollen, nectar, and water. Foragers recruit other foragers to a suitable flower patches by performing waggle dances! At the end of their life cycle, forager bees are about 5 to 7 weeks old.
As mentioned before, honey bee workers dedicate their entire life to the hive and make sure that their queen is well protected as she is the one that produces the workers. Without the queen, a honey bee colony cannot survive on its own. The queen will lay thousands of eggs and can live for up to 3 to 5 years but will only mate once. She essential to the colony and honey bee workers will sacrifice their lives to protect her.
Eusociality exists in many other insects. Ants, bumble bees, paper wasps, and termites are all examples of eusocial insects that live together in a colony comprised of workers and a queen. Within eusocial colonies there exist division of labor between multiple castes of workers. For instance, in honey bees there are two types of workers, nurse bees and forager bees. Honey bee division of labor is also age-dependent, where the youngest bees become nurses and the oldest become foragers. A worker bee will dedicate her entire life to the wellness of the hive. As soon as a honey bee emerges as an adult, her main duty is to clean the hive, feed the brood (larvae), receive food from foragers, and build honey comb.
Once nurse bees are about 2 weeks old they switch tasks and begin to guard the colony entrance and clean out the dead. After they're about 3 weeks old they become foragers and begin to exit the hive in search of pollen, nectar, and water. Foragers recruit other foragers to a suitable flower patches by performing waggle dances! At the end of their life cycle, forager bees are about 5 to 7 weeks old.
As mentioned before, honey bee workers dedicate their entire life to the hive and make sure that their queen is well protected as she is the one that produces the workers. Without the queen, a honey bee colony cannot survive on its own. The queen will lay thousands of eggs and can live for up to 3 to 5 years but will only mate once. She essential to the colony and honey bee workers will sacrifice their lives to protect her.
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