Controverscial.Com
Welcome
|
Controverscial.Com
Welcome
|
|
Animals and Witchcraft(The Witches Familiar)The
Honeybee
Written
and compiled by George Knowles
The common Honeybee is a subset of bees belonging to the insect order Hymenoptera
(of the genus group Apis
mellifera)
and represents just a small fraction of approximately 20,000 known species of
bees. Honeybees are distinguished
from other bees by their production of honey and the construction of colony
nests (hives) out of beeswax. While
there are other types of bees that also produce honey, only members of the genus
group Apis
are true Honeybees. The Honeybee is a highly social insect that survives
only as a member of a colony. A
colony is typically made up of three types of bees called castes, which include:
Queen bees (the reproductive females), Worker bees (sterile female bees)
and Drones (the male bees). Each
caste or type of bee is associated with a different function within the colony,
and each possesses unique differences geared to maintaining the needs and
structure of the colony. The Queen bee is the only sexually productive female
in the colony. After mating with the
Drones, sperm finds its way into a small sac-like organ located in her abdomen
called the ‘spermatheca’.
From this her capacity for laying eggs becomes quite prolific, producing
in excess of 1,500 eggs in a day. She
can also control the sex of her offspring, for when an egg passes from the ovary
to the oviduct, depending on the needs of the colony, she may or may not choose
to fertilise it with sperm. Those
that do get fertilised develop into female bees, either as Queen bees or Workers
bees, while unfertilised eggs develop as the male Drone bees. Eggs are laid in individual cells of the hive and hatch within three
days, after which the larvae is fed on ‘royal jelly’ for two days (a
substance secreted by the worker bees that is high in protein),
and then on pollen, nectar or honey. Each
of the hundreds of larvae must be fed many times a day, and to achieve this the
Queen bee and her Worker bees operate as a team.
The development of Queen bees from egg to larvae to adult, takes 16 days,
while Worker bees take 21 days, and Drones 24 days. The Queen bee has a longer body and larger abdomen than other bees in the
colony and can measure up to 20mm. She
also has a curved, smooth stinger that can be used repeatedly throughout her
life. In contrast, the Worker bees
have a straight, barbed stinger that when used remains firmly anchored in the
flesh of its victim. When trying to
withdraw the stinger from its victim, the Worker bee in effect tears away part
of its abdomen and as a result dies shortly afterwards. Within the colony, Worker bees far outnumber the
Drones, which typically during the spring can number from 8,000 to 15,000, by
the early summer however, this number can grow to as many as 80,000.
Worker bees born early in the spring season usually live for about 6
weeks, while those born in the late autumn will survive through the winter until
the following spring. Unlike many
other species of bees, Honeybees do not hibernate through the winter.
The average lifespan of a Queen bee can range from one to eight years. Young Worker bees are called ‘house bees’ and are employed mainly in
constructing the hive. While lacking
the ability to mate and reproduce, they secrete wax, which is used to build and
maintain the honeycomb structure of the hive.
They are also kept busy converting nectar and pollen into honey, rearing
the brood, tending to the Queen and Drones, cleaning and when necessary
defending the hive. As the young develop, the older Worker bees become known as ‘field
bees’, and leave the hive to forage outside gathering nectar, pollen and water
needed to sustain the colony. Worker
bees measure up to about 12 mm and are highly adapted for the work they do.
They have a structure called a pollen basket (or corbiculum)
on each hind leg, an extra stomach for storing and transporting nectar and
pollen, and four pairs of special glands that secrete wax on the underside of
their abdomen. The field bees bring in nectar from many flowers and on entering the hive
with a full honey sac, regurgitate the contents into the mouths of the young
Worker bees who then deposit the nectar in a cell and carry out the tasks
necessary to convert it to honey. When
the honey is fully ripened or thickened, the cell is sealed with an airtight wax
capping and stored for winter supplies. Pollen
is the principal source of protein, fat, minerals and vitamins, and is essential
for the growth and development of the colony.
Besides gathering and storing food for the colony, the Worker bees are
also responsible for maintaining the hive at 34° C (93° F), the optimum
temperature required for hatching the Queen’s eggs and rearing the brood.
When a hive becomes too hot they collectively ventilate it by fanning their wings,
and during cool weather will cluster tightly together in the hive to generate
heat. The Drone bee has only one function in the colony, and that is to mate
with the new Queen bees. Mating
takes place out in the open air away from the hive, after which the Drone bee
dies. Recent studies of their mating
habits have established that the Queen bee usually mates with six or more Drones
in the course of a few days. Drones
are active in the colony during the spring and summer months, but as autumn and
the colder weather approaches they are driven out of the hive by the Worker bees
and left to die. The importance of Honeybees to agriculture is now well established, as
more than 50 cultivated food crops require them for pollination.
Crops that are either entirely dependent on insect pollination, or
produce more abundantly because of them, include:
fruit crops (such as - almonds, apples, apricots etc.); and seed crops
(such as - alfalfa, asparagus, broccoli etc.).
It is estimated that the value of the pollinating service rendered by
Honeybees far outweighs that of the Honey and Beeswax they produce. Mythology and Symbolism.
In Egyptian mythology Honeybees were born from the tears of Râ,
the Sun God. When he cried his tears
fell onto the soil of the earth and were transformed into bees that built
honeycombs and produced honey. Bees
were also associated with the Egyptian Great Mother Goddess Neith who ruled over hunting and warfare.
Her cult was
centred in the town of Sais
(modern Sa al-Hajar) where her temple
was known as per-bit
- meaning “the house of bees”. Similarly
the rulers of ancient Egypt were associated with bees.
Before the union of Upper and Lower Egypt (circa 3200 BC), the ruling
Kings of Lower Egypt used the title bit
- meaning “he of the bee”, whereby the Kings of Upper Egypt used the title nesw
- meaning “he of the sedge”. Later
after the union, the new rulers used the title nesw-bit
- meaning “he of the sedge and the bee”, which has been translated as
“King of Upper and Lower Egypt”. To
the Egyptians
bees were of great importance. In
domestic use, Honey, the main product of bees, was a principal sweetener in
their diets and used as a base for medicinal ointments.
Honey was also regarded as a symbol of resurrection, and thought to give
protection against evil spirits. Small
pottery flasks found in the tomb of the boy-king Tutankhamun contained hieroglyphic
inscriptions
indicating that they originally contained honey.
They also collected beeswax, which was used to make decorative moulds, as
well as a paint-varnish. In ancient Greece situated on the southern slopes of Mount Parnassus, Delphi was the location of the famous oracle temple of Apollo. Inside the temple is the “Omphalos”, a decorated beehive shaped stone covered with what look like sculpted engravings of Honeybees. This was used as a symbol indicating that Delphi in Greece was the centre of the world. Pythia, Apollo’s chief oracle priestess was also known as the Delphic Bee.
|
