10-18-2021 Planning Commission Packet

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Workers S Development Division of Labor The developmental stage of the worker honey bee Under normal conditions, a worker performs a (Figure 5) lasts about 21 days or 30% longer than sequence of tasks during her life span starting with the queen's developmental period. The adult worker various in-hive activities like cell cleaning and larvae is reproductively incomplete, with rudimentary feeding. Eventually she will perform such activities ovaries and no spermatheca. Under normal as comb construction and nectar ripening. Well over conditions she cannot lay eggs.Although she is the half of her life is spent inside the hive and during smallest bee of the colony, the worker honey bee this period she is generally referred to as a hive possesses specialized structural features that allow bee or nurse bee. Later, she progresses to foraging her to perform a multitude of tasks essential to the for nectar and pollen and is called a field bee or continued existence of the colony. Two such tasks of forager. All workers in a colony, however, are capable crucial importance to beekeepers are collecting an of performing all worker tasks and can respond abundance of nectar (to make honey) and regulating appropriately as conditions warrant. temperature, allowing the colony to be a perennial entity. Probably the most important task relating to the value of honey bees to both flowering plants and humankind is the collecting of plant pollen and nectar. This activity provides the pollination that enables plant production of seeds resulting in fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Pollination services are fundamental to1111 modern agriculture. Workers collect water to drink and to cool the nest. Workers also collect sticky plant resins called propolis. Propolis is not consumed by honey bees, but its remarkable antimicrobial properties are an important component of the social immunity and health of the colony. • a Lifespan The lifespan of an individual worker varies from ---- season to season. Studies have shown that the life expectancy of adult worker honey bees emerging in J early spring averages about 35 days, decreases to 25 days in early summer, but can be up to 200 days for bees emerging in early fall and surviving through winter. Foraging takes a toll on bees, limiting their 4110* lifespans. In the fall, bees store protein and lipids Figure 5. Close up of a worker bee(photo by Judy Griesedieck). which, in combination with not foraging during winter, enable them to survive longer periods of time. In late summer and early spring, as the queen begins laying again, the older bees die off and are replaced by a . new, young workforce. Beekeeping in Northern Climates 6