Beekeeping and the Life of Bees - Term Paper Example

Bees as Pets Introduction People are beginning to acknowledge the importance of bees and keeping of these wonderful insects at the backyard of the homestead has become a common trend. Bees are known to be social insects together with ants having distinct levels of the organization (Abrol 51-67). Oddly enough during the winter, it is the time when the beehive is in tune. During the warmer parts of the year, few bees are hatched. At the warmer parts of the year, a hive comprises of not only female bees but also male drones and young females all doing different jobs. The jobs done the bees of different ages create distinct sounds (Sanford and Bonney 56-61). Hatched female bees are fully sized, but the wings are have not hardened for flight until they attain the age of nine days. Paradoxically, when the female fans their wings they make the loudest buzz. The lack of wind resistance in the hive means that the wings will fan faster than the oversized drones with bigger wings creating low tones (Sanford and Bonney 56-61). Bees forming the guard and protecting the hive from the intruders such as the bears and beekeepers fly fast in the beeline buzz in order to have an impact when they confront their enemies. These bees create a higher insistent tone while in their line of defense. Bees make the best pets ever. These insects are pollinators and while in the farm; they help the flowers to blossom. Furthermore, for a farmer who grows fruits or rather has an orchard, bees will help in pollination of the tree fruits increasing the yield (Pollinator Partnership 1-2). Bees are clean insects that will not dirty the compound or even a house. With flowers in the compound and available source of water, the bees can fend for themselves in terms of the food. In fact, bees help in the beautification of the compound. When they aid in the pollination process, the flowers grow to their maturity improving the aesthetic appeal of the compound. Extensive tracts of land under farming benefits from the bees in the process of pollination (Pollinator Partnership 1-2). It is nature’s coincidence that the bees pollinate the followers while looking for the nectar in the fields. Bees have pollen grain pockets in the hind legs, which carry the grains. While flying from one flower to the next, they carry the pollen grains with them thus, assisting in the whole process of pollination. Entomologists refer to bees as the agents of pollination. The most beneficial aspect in the whole process of beekeeping is that they produce honey. As a natural sweetener, honey has vast economic and health gains (Mingo 42-45). Research has shown that honey is medicinal and can treat several diseases due to its antibacterial properties. Furthermore, it is a nutritious food that can replace the manufactured jams when used to toast bread. In wound healing honey has immuno-modulatory functions relevant to wound repair. A farmer who keeps several hives can sell the harvested honey for income. Keeping of bees is not labor intensive since it requires only construction of hives that will house the bees keeping them safe from the extremes of the weather (Mingo 42-45). Another benefit is that beekeeping, also known as apiculture does not require large tracts of land, and a backyard full of trees is enough for beekeeping. People who love deriving inspiration from nature would be interested in understanding the life of bees especially the organizational level. For farmers, bees assist in the pollination an aspect that is beneficial for improved yields (Debbie 1-3). A life study of bees reveals the importance of the food chain within the bio systems and the balance that exists. Communication within the Hive As the social insects within the hive, bees have to communicate with each other. They use various communication channels including movement, odour cues and food exchanges to share information (Debbie 1-3). Bees perform a series of dances-waggle dance- to each other to assist in the location of food sources 150 meters away. The scout bees fly from the hive or the location of the colony to collect both nectar and pollen. After finding the supplies of the food, these bees return and perform specific dances on the honeycombs (Debbie 1-3). They shake the abdomen vigorously producing a characteristic buzzing sound while beating their wings. The speed of this movement communicates the foraging distance for the worker bees. Communication of the direction is complex, since the dancing bee has to align in the direction of the food with relativity to the sun. There are two variations of the waggle dance that helps in the location of the food. Round dance entails a series of circular movements that help to alert the colony members the presence of food at a proximity of 50 meters (Debbie 1-3). Round dance only communicates the direction of the supply rather than the distance. The second variation, the sickle dance alerts the worker bees on the location of food at a location of 50-150 meters from the beehive. Bees also employ the odor cues through the production of specific chemicals called pheromones. These set of chemicals transmits important information to the members within the colony. Pheromones are produced by the queen and aid in the reproduction cycle (Debbie 1-3). The queen produces pheromones that keep away the female bees from mating while at the same time producing others that helps the drones to mate. A unique odor produced by the queen communicates to the rest of the bees on her wellness. A change of leadership means presence of new queen. After introduction in the hive she is kept in a separate cage for familiarization with the rest of the bees using her characteristic odor. In the defense strategy, when a worker bee stings an intruder it produces pheromones that communicate to the rest of the guards of the breach (Debbie 1-3). This explains the reason as to why an intruder may suffer from serious bee stings when the colony is disturbed. As a supplement to the waggle dance, honeybees employ odor from the food sources as a way of communicating with the colony. Several entomologist believes that the scout bees carry the unique scent of the flowers they visit and the characteristic smell must be available for the waggle dance to attain full effect. Bees may also offer foraged food to the rest of the colony to ascertain for quality, as well as the location (Debbie 1-3). Through the communication processes bees maintain a balanced life in the hives. They are able to tell the danger in situations when there is the intrusion and protect their territory (Sanford and Bonney 56-61). The honey produced by the bee act as food for future use. Using the various communication cues every member in the colony finds the specific role to play. Bees: The Best Pets Bees can act as the gatekeepers to keep the intruding animals such as elephants away. A study retrospective by the University of Oxford in collaboration with the Save the Elephants initiative found that bees offer 97 per cent repelling activity to the elephants. In support of the study, reports by BBC in 2011 showed that Kenya had reversed serious decline in elephant population elevating their numbers to 7500 (Sanford and Bonney 56-61). Elephants used to raid the farms foraging the potatoes, corn and other field crops. The big size of an elephant would culminate to extensive destruction of crops. Disappointed farmers would respond using guns and poison thus killing the elephants (Mingo 42-45). Beehives offered new help and support by repelling the elephants. Elephants have thick skins but do not like the bees since they are good at targeting the vulnerable parts of the elephant such as the eyes and the nose. Out of the 32 attempted raids only one of the elephant successful got through the barrier. Additionally, farmers were trained to harvest the honey and wax from the buffer zone providing them with extra income and motivation to keep their hives in shape (Mingo 42-45). Unlike other common pets, bees are unique; they never bark or whine at night. The interesting insects do not demand attention and finally greet the keeper with honey for toasting bread for breaks fast. Beeswax is vital for making candles light up the house. Bees manufacture honey from nectar, and as mentioned, honey has both nutritional and medicinal value vital for human use. As active pollinators bees help in improving the aesthetic value of the compound by helping the flowers to blossom (Debbie 1-3). The benefits of bees and their attributes make them to be the best pets for keeping. Unlike other pets kept in the homestead, bees offer great benefits in economic, health and environmental advantages. Bees and Agriculture: Pollination It will be a wrong intention to deny that bees are the nature’s greatest pollinators when it comes to farming. Perennial colonies of bees can be taken to the places where they are needed. As mentioned in the previous sections, bees have ways of communicating direction and distance from the hive to the locations of the flowers (Debbie 1-3). With effective flower fidelity bees are the best flower pollinators. Flower fidelity refers to the process in which bees concentrate on specific species of flowers while collecting nectar and the pollen grains despite having attraction to different flowers. Scout bees have the ability of finding and detecting the abundant source of nectar. By performing the waggle dance, these bees communicate the location of the flowers. Pollination refers to the process in which pollen grains are transferred from the anther to the female parts. Honeybees offer large scales pollination of commercial arable farms with agricultural crops for honey production (Sanford and Bonney 56-61). After realizing the importance of bees in the pollination process, it is possible for farmers to relocate the hives to the specific areas for pollination of the farm. Areas with the production hives are known as apiaries. It would be impossible for humans to enjoy most of the fruits and vegetables without the help of these bees. Apart from pollination of food crops, bees pollinate the forage crops such as clover and alfalfa used to feed livestock. The North American Pollinator Protection Campaign claim that among the crops pollinated by bees include apples and bananas. Bees help in pollinating the plants from which we derive our beverages. These are coffee plantations and chocolate ("Pollinator Partnership." 1-2). In the ecosystem honey bees play a vital role in ensuring that flowers blossom for the production of seed. The process of pollination ensures that the plants are able to reproduce thus sustaining the genetic diversity of the plants. In the U.S, most of the agricultural output depends on these natural pollinators. Fruit and vegetable growers from different states can attest the role of pollinators in crop production. In the coffee farms of South America and Africa, bees help in the production of the berries (Pollinator Partnership 1-2). The realized benefits of the honeybees in pollination make it important for the farmers to devise ways of protecting the natural habitats of these insects. Some of the plants such as blueberries and cherries depend on pollinators by 90 percent. Conclusion The realized benefits of honeybees make them the best pets for keeping in the homestead. The financial investment is little while the economic outcome of the prospect is huge. Bees have great benefits for the keeper and the environment in general. Despite their small size with a weight of 120mg, bees offer great help in pollination of food crops and the natural plants in the environment (Pollinator Partnership 1-2). Furthermore, it is cheap to keep the insects since they fend for their own and do not require huge attention. After the analysis of various literature concerning honeybees, I realize that they are comfortable and productive pets to rear since they produce honey and beeswax (Mingo 42-45). Works Cited Abrol, D P. Pollination Biology: Biodiversity Conservation and Agricultural Production. Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business Media B.V, 2012. Print. Debbie, Hardly. "Honey Bees - Communication within the Honey Bee Colony." About.com Insects. N.P., 2013. Web. 30 May 2014. . Mingo, Jack. Bees Make the Best Pets all the Buzz about Being Resilient, Collaborative, Industrious, Generous, and Sweet - Straight from the Hive. San Francisco, CA: Conari Press, 2013. Print. "Pollinator Partnership." Pollinator Partnership. Pollinator Partnership, 2014. Web. 30 May 2014. . Sanford, Malcolm T, and Richard E. Bonney. Storeys Guide to Keeping Honey Bees. North Adams, Mass: Storey Pub, 2010. Print. Read More