- 3/24/11 Honey bee colonies can be rented for pollination services. It is recommended that a contract be signed.
- 3/24/11 Packaged bees are sold from the southern states and California. They come in 2, 3, or 5 pound packages with about 3,500 bees in each. There are 2 varieties. One includes a newly mated queen for developing new colonies or without a queen for strengthening weak colonies.
The 3 CASTES of honey bees:
- Workers – 2,000 to 60,000 Reproductively underdeveloped females that do all the work of the colony
- Drones – 0 to 500 Male bees during spring & summer that fly from the hive and mate in the air with queens from other colonies. They do NOT have stingers! They DIE instantly upon mating!
- Queen – A fully fertile female specialized for producing eggs. When a queen dies or is lost, workers select a few young worker larvae & feed them a special food called “royal jelly”. These special larvae develop into queens. Therefore, the only difference between workers & queens is the quality of the larval diet. There is usually only one queen per colony. The queen also affects the colony by producing chemicals called “pheromones” that regulate the behavior of other bees
After a beekeeper gains experience, most prefer to work WITHOUT gloves.
Pine straw, grass, and burlap make good smoker fuel.
curtsbees 