By Matt MacConnell, Chair and Conservation Chair, Lehigh Valley Group
The Lehigh Valley Group conservation program allocated about $2,000 toward purchase of an outdoor honeybee observation hive and supplies. This project was deemed as important given the decline in honeybee populations and their importance as pollinators. This hive has doors on either side that reveal the colony behind panes of glass. It was originally intended to place this adjacent to the Ricky Park wetland pollinator garden that Lehigh Valley Group had constructed in 2019. However, the township solicitor was concerned about stings and would not allow it. Fortunately, the Lehigh Gap Nature Center (LGNC) agreed to locate this on a balcony overlooking the Lehigh River, not far from where the Appalachian Trail crosses the river in Slatington. Brian Birchak, Director of Communications at LGNC states that “We are very excited to provide a home for the observation hive. It will serve as an excellent education opportunity for students to witness the intricate behavior of eusocial insects and the importance of pollination.”
The honeybee colony, along with a fertilized queen, were transferred to the observation hive in April. Since then, visitors to the LGNC Osprey House have been enjoying the bee colony. The Lehigh Valley Group is pleased to have contributed to this fascinating venue and happy to see that it is producing a lot of interest.
The social life of honeybees is remarkable, and I find it mesmerizing when I observe them. Not all bees exhibit the social behavior that honeybees do, and the observation hive enables viewing many of these social behaviors. The honeybee colony is a complex society that is often referred to as eusocial. Eusociality is a form of social behavior that includes several generations living in a nest at the same time, cooperation in caring for the young, and division of labor. The honeybee society functions as a single animal or “Superorganism” where each individual fulfills its role for the colony.
The three types of bees in the colony are Queen, Drone and Worker. There is only one queen, and she lays 1500 eggs per day and lives 2-5 years. The drone is a medium sized male whose purpose is to mate with the queen and there are 0-200 in the hive and live less than 90 days. The Workers are all sterile females and there are 20,000-60,000 in a hive and live 20-140 days.
The worker bees have different roles depending on their age. Young bees 1-10 days old do all the cell cleaning, tend the brood, cap the brood with wax, and attend to the queen bee. Middle aged bees 10-20 days old receive all the nectar and pollen and do the comb building, hive cleaning, and regulate the hive temperature. Old bees 30-45 days old forage for nectar, pollen, resin, and water, perform the “Waggle Dance” to tell where good sources of nectar can be found, and defend the hive from predators.
Some amazing facts: The queen bee secretes unique pheromones that send chemical messages to the workers, which keep the colony integrated. In the fall, drone bees are removed from the hive by workers. To make one pound of honey, worker bees visit 2,000,000 flowers, gather 8-10 pounds of nectar and fly 5,500 miles.
This blog was included as part of the August 2022 Sylvanian newsletter. Please click here to check out more articles from this edition!