1. HONEY BEE BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR LANCE WILSON CERTIFIED MASTER BEEKEEPER GMBP 1

2. LEARN THE SCIENCE 2

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4. African Bee European Bee Photo: Sean McCann 4 WHICH BEE IS AFRICANIZED?

5. KILLER BEES THE AFRICANIZED HONEYBEE 5

6. WHAT IS A HONEY BEE? 100 million years ago 6

7. WHERE DID OUR WESTERN HONEY BEE COME FROM? 7

8. TROPICAL TO TEMPERATE 8

9. BEES ARE TROPICAL ANIMALS 9

10. ADJUSTMENTS TO TEMPERATE LIFE  STARTED HEAT GENERATION  MOVED INTO CAVITIES  GENERATED HEAT AND FORMED CLUSTERS TO RAISE BROOD EARLY  STORED A GREAT DEAL OF HONEY FOR WINTER DEARTH  REDUCED SWARMING 10

11. EUROPE SUBSPECIES 11  German Black bee  Italian Bee  Carniolan Image Randy Oliver www.scientificbeekeeping.com

12. EUROPEAN ADAPTIONS  NON DEFENSIVE  OCCUPY CAVITIES  STORE HONEY  DO NOT SWARM AS MUCH  CLUSTER TO STAY WARM  THEY RECREATED THE TROPICAL CONDITIONS THAT THEY ARE PREADAPTED TO IN THE TROPICS 12

13. AFRICAN SUBSPECIES 13

14. AFRICAN BEE 14 He don’t care  Make bees not honey  Very defensive-predation pressure  Forage all year long  Will abandon hive if disturbed-absconding  Colony out in the open

15. SO WHAT'S IN THE UNITED STATES? 15 1621 German Black Bee

16. GERMAN BLACK BEE 16  Acclimated to Cold Weather  Susceptible to Brood Diseases  Moderate Honey Hoarder  Very Defensive  Runs On Comb

17. THEY MOVED WEST 17

18. SECOND WAVE 18 1859-1922-Italians, Carniolans, etc.

19. 19 ItalianCarniolan  Fast Brood Up  Maintain large Pop  Good Honey Hoarders  Prone to Robbing  Moderate Temperament  Acclimatized to hot temperatures  Fast Brood Up  Maintain Small Pop  Disease Resistant  Not Prone to Robbing  Decent Honey Hoarders  Prone to Swarming  Very Mild Temperament  Acclimatized to colder temperatures Color of honey bees is extremely variable

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22. NATIONAL FERAL POPULATION 22 62% 37% Italian/Carnica German Black Bee Delaplane lecture notes

23. HONEY BEE ANATOMY 23

24. ANATOMY 24

25. ANATOMY 25

26. ANATOMY 26

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28. ANATOMY 28 Practical Take Away! Scratch the stinger out, smok e the area.

29. ANT 29

30. NAKED BEEKEEPING 30

31. STINGLESS BEE 31

32. ANATOMY Darwin 32

33. SUPERORGANISM DR. WHEELER 1911  Pheromones  Organs  Reproduces  Thermoregulates  Comb  Breathes  Can’t live away 33

34. SUPERORGANISM=COMMUNISM? 34

35. TROPHALAXIS 35

36. THE HIVE MIND  Highest form of life?  Highly successful 36

37. OCCUPANTS OF THE COLONY 37

38. DRONE MATING 38

39. MCDONALD’S 39

40. WE KNOW INBREEDING 40 Is Not So Good……

41. POLYANDRY 41 Practical Take Away! Queens replaced by the colony in the late fall or winter might do poorly.

42. ADVANTAGES OF POLYANDRY  BETTER COMMUNICATION  MORE NECTAR AND POLLEN  GREATLY REDUCED PATHOGEN AND PARASITE DISEASES (TARPY AND SEELEY)  MICROBIOME-MORE BENEFICIAL AND LESS MALIGNANT BACTERIA  CORRELATED WITH GREATER LONGEVITY AND HEALTH 42

43. QUEEN Queen Two Things:  Royal egg layer  Produces pheromones 43

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45. 45 Just a figurehead

46. QUEEN ROYAL EGG LAYER 46

47. QUEEN PRODUCES PHEROMONES 47 Practical Take Away! Well formed retinue suggests a well mated queen.

48. WORKER  Makes all the decisions  Does all work  Makes up 95-99% 48

49. WORKER TASKS  NURSE BEES 1-10 DAYS  INTERMEDIATE 11-21 DAYS  FORAGING 21-35 DAYS  LONGEVITY 49

50. FORAGING  WATER  PROPOLIS  POLLEN  NECTAR 50 Practical Take Away! Provide water close to your hives.

51. FORAGING PROPOLIS 51

52. FORAGING POLLEN  Contains 10-30% crude protein  Essential for brood rearing  Fidelity 52 Practical Take Away! Critically important, aways monitor pollen coming in and their stores

53. FORAGING NECTAR  Contains 10-40% sucrose  Essential for energy 53 Practical Take Away! Monitor honey stores, need 3 full deeps always.

54. NECTAR GUIDES 54  Coevolution-UV reflecting pigment  Bee fidelity  Attracted by color and smell

55.  1/3 OF THE BEES ARE FORAGERS  PARKER 1926  FORAGE FOR 2 WEEKS OUT OF A 35 DAY LIFE SPAN DURING THE SUMMER  AVERAGE POLLEN TRIP IS ONE HOUR-AVERAGE LOAD 50MG  AVERAGE NECTAR TRIP IS 30-45 MINUTE-AVERAGE LOAD 50MG  CAN COLLECT UP TO 21LBS PER DAY 55

56. NECTAR FORAGING START FORAGING FOR NECTAR AT 55F AND INCREASES LINEARLY UP TO 90F 56 55F 70F 85F 95F 105F

57. WIND 57 Graph Dr. Hoopingarner

58. SCOUTING BEHAVIOR  5-25% OF THE FORAGERS ARE SCOUTS  THEY RECRUIT OTHER BEES 58

59. FORAGE AREA  4 MILES-OVER 50 SQUARE MILES  50% OF ¼ MILE OPTIMAL FORAGE THEORY  FORAGES STAY WITH PREFERENCE 59

60. INFORMATION EXCHANGE 60 Dance Floor Honey Storage

61. SEX DETERMINATION 61

62. QUEEN WORKER-CASTE 62

63. DEVELOPMENTAL TIMES 3-DAYS 6-Days 12-Days 63 Practical Take Away! Know developmental times so you can determine queen status

64. WHAT THE STAGES LOOK LIKE IN THE FIELD 64

65. QUEEN REPLACEMENT/REPRODUCTION 65  Emergency  Supercedure  Swarming

66. QUEEN “THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE!” 66 (monogynous societies) Practical Take Away! If you wish to requeen you must first eliminate the existing queen

67. EMERGENCY QUEEN REPLACEMENT 67

68. SUPERCEDURE 68 Practical Take Away! If you see cells in the middle and the queen it is likely supercedure.

69. SWARMING REPRODUCTION 69 Practical Take Away! If you have congestion in the spring with cells on the bottom you need to take emergency swarm control measures.

70. COLONY LIFE CYCLE 70

71. MORE ACCURATE PORTRAYAL 71 HIGH LOW Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Bee Population Nectar Flow

72. SWARMING/REPRODUCTION 72

73. COMMUNICATION 73  1907- Zoology Doctorate  Over 70 research papers  Proved insects can hear and learn  Pioneering research on honey bee color pattern recognition  All later bee communication studies were based on these methodologies Charles Henry Turner

74. COMMUNICATION  Humans  Some higher primates  Honey bees? 74 Karl von Frisch

75. COMMUNICATION 75

76. COMMUNICATION 76 Odor Plume School

77. FINAL PROOF 77

78. TEXAS A&M BEE LAB 78

79. RECOMMENDED 79 www.scientificbeekeeping.com

80. FOR PRESENTATION INQUIRES CONTACT 80 LANCE WILSON CERTIFIED MASTER BEEKEEPER GMBP LANCE@BEEKEEPINGHELP.COM

81. QUESTIONS 81

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