Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 3
. A worker bee's age-related tasks in the colony
words, wax is central to the bees' existence. Without it, no food can be stored, no eggs
could be laid and no brood reared. The colony would soon die out.
Finally, the worker begins guard and defence duties at the entrance to the hive and will
readily launch herself at the beekeeper or strange bees. This guarding stage may last for
only a day or two, after which she will fly off and forage for nectar, pollen, propolis or
water. Therefore as her various glands develop and then atrophy, her duties change, and
she finally works herself to death as a forager if she hasn't previously died in combat,
from disease or from having been eaten by a predator.
