Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Worker bees are smaller than both queens and drones. They are by far the most numerous
bees in a colony. The queen and workers are shown here for comparison.
Like any newborn, the first activity of this new worker is eating. Initially, she begs
food from other bees, but soon she begins to seek and find stored pollen. This high-pro-
tein diet allows her glands to mature for future duties. She stays close to the center of
the broodnest—the warmest and safest part of the colony—which is also where most of
the pollen is stored. Within a day or so, she joins the labor force, learning increasingly
complicated tasks as she matures. She begins in the broodnest, removing debris from
vacated pupa cells, pulling out the cocoon and frass (waste) that can be removed. Oth-
ers follow her, polishing the sides and bottom of the cells with propolis in preparation
for another egg.
After a few days, the glands in her head (the hypopharangeal and mandibular glands)
are nearly mature, and the worker begins feeding older worker larvae a mixture of pol-
len and honey. As these glands mature, she can feed hatchlings royal jelly produced in
those glands. She is also able to feed the existing queen this glandular food. At the same
time, she can groom the queen, help remove waste, and pick up after her. As she works,
she picks up and distributes tiny amounts of queen pheromone throughout the colony,
assuring all inhabitants that all is right in the world—or informing them that all is not
right, that the queen may be failing, or even missing. This activity is all important in
maintaining the status quo in a colony or in initiating a change that will again bring bal-
ance to the colony.
After a few days of cleaning, feeding, and eating, this worker begins to explore the
rest of the nest, traveling farther and farther from the center. Soon she ventures near the
hive's entrance and begins taking nectar loads from returning foragers—the first step in
turning nectar into honey.
