Beekeeper's experience


Beespace is the gap between any two components inside a bee hive that is not either filled with wax comb or sealed with propolis to provide no access. All modern hives recognise the importance of beespace in their design. The normal figure given for beespace is between 6mm and 8mm and the frames in every hive are designed so that this gap exists all around the frame.

The development of the queen

A queen is produced from a normál fertilised egg. Once the egg hatches, the workers will feed the larva with an exceptionally rich food, high in sugar and nutrients known as royal jelly. The larva is provisioned with more food than it can consume so is never lacking food. The outcome is that the larva grows ex-tremely rapidly and when fully grown the body contains high quantities of juvenile hormone.

Bee dances

Perhaps one of the most spectacular ways bees communicate is by the bee dance. The bees create a 'dance floor' on a patch of comb within the hive. This comb is left with minimal larvae or stores so its surface can vibrate if a bee shakes it.

Honey bee communication

Honey bees have many ways of communicating with each other. This is necessary ijecause the safety and viability of the colony depends on the whole community working together. Most of the colony management is done collectively by the workers that, through a number of simple mechanisms, can recruit each other to perform tasks.
