How do bees get around?
bess have always been thought to navigate using the location of the sun and what is referred to as their internal compass. It was recently discovered that bees may also make use of cognitive mapping. In other words they will make use of landmarks to help them find their way back to their hive, much like most mammals do.
In an effort to understand how bees manage to navigate their way around an experiment was performed whereby the bees were sedated and moed to a different location from where they were. Upon waking the bees immediately resumed heading in the direction that they were heading before sedation and capture although it was no longer towards their goal. once they realised that the goal was not where it was thought to be the bees immediately changed direction and headed towards their initial destination.
As a result of this experiment it appears that bees have snapshot memories of where their hive is and the surrounding area, all in turn linked to the location of the sun by their internal compasses.
Are
there other insects that are sometimes confused with bees?
In Johannesburg one seldom finds an insect that can be confused with a
bee, however certain wasps resemble bees in appearance, although the nests
do not resemble a beehive at all.
What causes bees to swarm?
Will the bees cause any damage to my house? Ceiling? Electrical box
The possible exception would be if a bee colony made their home in your ceiling where the heat in the roof could cause wax and honey to soften and run, causing staining, otherwise
honey bees will not damage your house.
It is extremely difficult to remove all the wax and honey from inside a roof, so even after removing the hive there will always be "robber" bees taking the remaining wax and honey.
Why hasn't spraying the nest in the wall killed the bees?
In order for the insecticide to be effective it must come into contact
with the bees, if the colony is too deep in the walls and the poison is
not reaching them. Note that many people are attacked when they spray
bees. It may be necessary to find a way into the wall but this is costly
so rether have an bee removal
expert trace where the bees got in and use some trusted methods to
remove the bees.
Have Bees Removed |
How does the general spraying of my garden affect bees?
Because certain pests will destroy a garden if not controlled it is necessary to make use of insecticide. However if you have plants that bloom before bearing their harvest it is a good idea to hold back on spraying while these plants are in bloom as this is when the bees will be at their most active.
What is beeswax?
Worker bees have a number of pouches on their stomach, usually between 6 and 8. As they mature they secrete the wax in liquid form. This liquid cools and turns into a white waxy substance. The bee keeps the wax in the stomach pouches and uses its legs to pull the wax out and chews it into a usable wax for building the honeycomb.
Bees making art?
Bees have even been instrumental in the making of some cleverly crafted
pieces of art, using only their ability to build the perfect honeycomb
in any shape.
The bees were let into a preformed bust made out of a clear plastic and left to build their beehive and were later removed and the evidence of their natural ability is clear both in the perfect shape of the bust and in the precision of the cells of the honeycomb.
How do bees make honey?
Bees forage for food by going from flower to flower eating the flowers nectar. This nectar is stored in a special organ which produces an enzyme which converts the nectar into simple sugars. The honey is taken back to the hive by the bees where it is stored.
The bees will fan the honey to dry it out, sealing it with a wax cap once it has reached the right consistency. Nectar contains more than three times the amount of water that honey does. Sometimes it is necessary for the bees to eat and then regurgitate the nectar to encourage water evaporation.
Bees use the honey for food form themselves, which provides them with energy and also helps them resist bacteria, much the same as people benefit from eating honey.
Pollination of plants, how do bees do it?
Bees forage by going from one flower to the next and collecting nectar, as they enter the flower they will brush against the anther or the stigma, the anther will leave deposits of pollen on the bee who when he goes to the next plant will either brush against its stigma or flapping it's wings will dislodge some pollen which in turn will land on the stigma effectively setting in motion the process which will eventually bear fruit.
Can bees get ill?