Buzzing bits

Buzzing bits about Bees and Beekeeping

Fanie van der Merwe

The keeping of bees is one of the most interesting and dangerous occupations in the world.  No one should take up Beekeeping without first getting advice from the experts at a Beekeeping association.

Beekeepers perform an important ecological service because many plants depend on bees for pollination.  Of course, concern for the preservation of Nature is not the only reason why more and more people are becoming interested in bees.  Beekeeping is a satisfying and exciting hobby to have.  

To be successful, a Beekeeper should be familiar with the life cycle of the bee and should perform the necessary tasks at the appropriate time.

Here are some facts to get u started:

Honeybees are social insects and can’t survive as a single organism. In the summer when there’s a good nectar flow, a colony consist out of a Queen, some 50 000 to 70 000 Worker Bees and up to a 1000 Drones (male bees). The division of labour determines everything and each of the castes specialize in performing its particular task.

The Queen is the sole Female with fully developed ovaries. She lays a 1000 to 2000 eggs a day, an output that represents about twice her own weight.

The Queen secretes a Pheromone (the so-called Queen substance) from the mandibular gland in her head.  The Worker Bees, that attend to the Queen takes this scent secretion and passes it on in minute quantities to all the bees in the hive.  The scent secretion stimulates and inhibits certain basic behaviours and processes that signify the life and social order of a colony.

There are ten kinds of honeybees in the African Continent. Here in Southern Cape the Capensis (Cape Honeybee) are used for Beekeeping.

With aspects like pollination, honey harvesting and the usage of hive products, there’s obviously more to this story than just the birds and the bees.

Watch this space for more buzzing bits….