Pollination is a meticulous and natural process between pollinators (i.e. animals that gather pollen) and angiosperms (flowering plants that produce pollen) that has existed and continued to evolve for millions of years. First it is important to describe the structure of the flower related to pollination, in order to better understand the mechanisms of this natural process: From the middle of the flower, surrounded by the petals, are both the male and female sexual organs, specifically the anther (male) and the pistil (female) It is the flower’s anthers that produce the pollen grains, which are found at the outer end of the stamen (the long, thin structure emerging from the middle of the flower) Once the pollen grains have matured then the wall of the anther will open so that the pollen can be discharged. This is known as dehiscence. The pistil is comprised of an ovary, that which emerges at the base of the flower, and a long style that arises from this bases and ends with a stigma. When a stigma is ripe (or receptive) its surface becomes sticky. Thus the tip of the pistil acts as an adhesive so that when pollen grains from the anther… Read more…
Apiculture is a method to keep honeybees for the purpose of efficiently collecting honey throughout the year without having to depend on the unpredictable seasonal weather patterns that directly affect the production of wild honey. Beekeeping is an ancient practice that has been dated at least as far back as the Egyptian empire around 2400 B.C.. The methods of beekeeping have taken on numerous forms over the thousands of years and are widespread across the globe. Most hives were constructed from wooden logs, pots, or other objects with a natural cavity. It wasn’t until 1789 that the first man-made hive was created. Traditional forms of beekeeping in India included the use of old earthenware pots, horizontal hives with small hole for flight entry and made from pottery, and woven horizontal hives. The traditional forms of beekeeping were much more common in the higher altitude regions of India, such as in the Indus valley, where it was too cold for Apis dorsata to survive, hence beekeeping would proliferate with Apis cerana. However, Apis dorsata thrived in the hotter peninsular regions of India, thus people were more likely to go to the wild and collect honey from the hives of these honeybees, as opposed to practice apiculture… Read more…
Apiculture is a method to keep honeybees for the purpose of efficiently collecting honey throughout the year without having to depend on the unpredictable seasonal weather patterns that directly affect the production of wild honey. Beekeeping is an ancient practice that has been dated at least as far back as the Egyptian empire around 2400 B.C.. The methods of beekeeping have taken on numerous forms over the thousands of years and are widespread across the globe. Most hives were constructed from wooden logs, pots, or other objects with a natural cavity. It wasn’t until 1789 that the first man-made hive was created. Traditional forms of beekeeping in India included the use of old earthenware pots, horizontal hives with small hole for flight entry and made from pottery, and woven horizontal hives. The traditional forms of beekeeping were much more common in the higher altitude regions of India, such as in the Indus valley, where it was too cold for Apis dorsata to survive, hence beekeeping would proliferate with Apis cerana. However, Apis dorsata thrived in the hotter peninsular regions of India, thus people were more likely to go to the wild and collect honey from the hives of these honeybees, as opposed to practice apiculture… Read more…
There are 4 types of honeybee species found in India being: Apis dorsata (The Giant Rock Bee), Apis florea (The Dwarf Honey Bee), Apis cerana (The Asiatic Honey Bee), and a Trigona species called the Dammer bee. Their distribution is found across India, throughout Asia, and the Trigona spp. are found across the equatorial region of the entire world. Apis cerana The Asiatic Honey Bee has its namesake for a reason – it is spread throughout much of Asia. Towards the west it stretches to the limits of Afghanistan and Iran; and then reaches as far east as the Pacific Ocean, including territories such as Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan. These honeybees go as far north as the Province of Russsia and all the way south to the Indonesian Island Chain. In addition, this species of honeybee is able to withstand altitudes of 2500 meters. In India the subspecies of cerana is called Apis cerana indica. Apis dorsata The Giant Rock Bee can be found throughout much of Southern Asia, such as parts of Pakistan all the way to the eastern parts of the Indonesian Island Chain. This honeybee species will only live at tropical and adjacent latitudes… Read more…
The comb for each honeybee species is unique in structure and by the substrate that it is found on. Much of this has to do with the size of the bee and the kind of combs they create. In addition, nesting sites are very important factors for where the comb is built. It must not only be able to withstand the weight of a comb (especially for Apis dorsata) but also provide protection against adverse weather patterns or predators, and be decently close to a water/ food source. Ideal nesting sites will be in somewhat open spaces while also being covered from wind disturbance. In addition, the combs will often be built on branches that face west and people believe it is because the bees prefer the evening light. In regards to the Giant Rock Bee, they prefer nesting sites on riverine trees in order to place their combs near a stream or river. When honey hunters of the Nilgiris notice that a tree has the proper qualities to be a nesting site then they will start clearing the undergrowth as well as small trees. This is to ensure that the qualified nest tree will be seen by the honeybees and that the… Read more…
The comb for each honeybee species is unique in structure and by the substrate that it is found on. Much of this has to do with the size of the bee and the kind of combs they create. In addition, nesting sites are very important factors for where the comb is built. It must not only be able to withstand the weight of a comb (especially for Apis dorsata) but also provide protection against adverse weather patterns or predators, and be decently close to a water/ food source. Ideal nesting sites will be in somewhat open spaces while also being covered from wind disturbance. In addition, the combs will often be built on branches that face west and people believe it is because the bees prefer the evening light. In regards to the Giant Rock Bee, they prefer nesting sites on riverine trees in order to place their combs near a stream or river. When honey hunters of the Nilgiris notice that a tree has the proper qualities to be a nesting site then they will start clearing the undergrowth as well as small trees. This is to ensure that the qualified nest tree will be seen by the honeybees and that the… Read more…
Inner Anatomy of a Honey Bee Drone, Worker, Queen Queen – A colony will have only one queen. When a queen is chosen from the hive she will only be fed royal jelly. Once she has grown to full adulthood, she governs a hive by the release of her pheromones. For example, only a few days after emerging from her capped cell she will mate with multiple drones during a single flight and ultimately collect enough spermatozoa that will fertilize her eggs for the rest of her life. The pheromone used in this process is the same used by all species of the genera Apis. When a new queen emerges she takes over the original hive, while the old queen will abscond the hive with about half of the worker bees to establish a new nest. This process of absconding the nest is known as swarming – one queen (the original) will fly off with half the original colony and cluster onto a supporting branch (or something similar) and wait for “scout” bees to locate a proper nest site to construct a new hive. The new queen that remained at the original nest will start laying eggs a few days after… Read more…
All honey-storing insects, from ants to bees, have evolved to to be completely social as well as live in colonies. These insects that store honey can be found within the phylogenetic Order Hymenoptera, with the bees specifically found in the Superfamily Apoidea. From this Subfamily is the Family Apidae from which there are three Subfamilies that demonstrate the diversification of these bees. For example, the Subfamily Meliponinae (stingless bees) went through a long evolutionary period during which five Genera were produced and with that over 500 species of stingless bees emerged. On the other hand, the Subfamily Apinae had a much shorter evolutionary period, thus produced on a single genus called Apis and from which there are nine species of bee. The bees have existed and evolved on this planet for more than 100 million years. One of the significant evolutionary changes for the bees occurred around 130 million years ago when they became more dependent, and vice versa, on flowering plants. In fact, it is overall believed that the emergence of flowering plants (angiosperms) conjoined with the same period of insect evolution. It was not until around 40 million years ago when the ancestral honey bee emerged. In… Read more…
All honey-storing insects, from ants to bees, have evolved to to be completely social as well as live in colonies. These insects that store honey can be found within the phylogenetic Order Hymenoptera, with the bees specifically found in the Superfamily Apoidea. From this Subfamily is the Family Apidae from which there are three Subfamilies that demonstrate the diversification of these bees. For example, the Subfamily Meliponinae (stingless bees) went through a long evolutionary period during which five Genera were produced and with that over 500 species of stingless bees emerged. On the other hand, the Subfamily Apinae had a much shorter evolutionary period, thus produced on a single genus called Apis and from which there are nine species of bee. The bees have existed and evolved on this planet for more than 100 million years. One of the significant evolutionary changes for the bees occurred around 130 million years ago when they became more dependent, and vice versa, on flowering plants. In fact, it is overall believed that the emergence of flowering plants (angiosperms) conjoined with the same period of insect evolution. It was not until around 40 million years ago when the ancestral honey bee emerged. In… Read more…
The Waggle Dance Like any animal, and as a social insect, honeybees have their own unique set of behaviors. One of their most fascinating behaviors is dancing, which has been termed as waggle dancing. In the tropical zones there is often a dearth period most commonly caused by drought, heat, or too much rain; and during these periods a honeybee colony must abscond the area where the dearth is happening in order to survive. During those periods the brood in the colony will no longer be reared and scout bees will have performed a dance on top of the comb that communicates to the other bee adults as to where a new foraging site was available. Once the dance is complete, and the direction and the new area for forage indicated, then the colony will abscond the nest together and head towards the new nest site. If you are interested in further detail and a video that demonstrates the bee dance please refer to this video made by the Georgia Tech College of Computing. In the early 1920s, Karl von Frisch (a famous Austrian ethologist and zoologist who made several animal behavior discoveries) also found that there was a… Read more…
There are four types of honeybee species found naturally in India. They vary in size, behavior, how they build nests, and there is even some variation in the Genus that they come from. Below is a list and simple description of each of the species: The Giant Rock Bee (Apis dorsata) Their name derives from the fact that they often construct their nests underneath rock overhangs, such as large cliff faces. However, they are not limited to steep escarpments but can also be found on high tree branches and the ceilings of large buildings. Often the Giant Rock will build its hives in aggregates, as in numerous colonies will construct their combs close to one another. For example, one large and sturdy tree can hold up to 100 colonies. When this honeybee constructs its nest it will do so within 1 km of a water source, and also tend to be near areas with plentiful pollen and nectar sources. In addition, these nests are quite large and are required to be built vertically in order to hold the massive colony size, which ranges from ~60,000-100,000 worker bees. The Giant Rock Bee builds its nest out in the open, in order… Read more…
There are four types of honeybee species found naturally in India. They vary in size, behavior, how they build nests, and there is even some variation in the Genus that they come from. Below is a list and simple description of each of the species: The Giant Rock Bee (Apis dorsata) Their name derives from the fact that they often construct their nests underneath rock overhangs, such as large cliff faces. However, they are not limited to steep escarpments but can also be found on high tree branches and the ceilings of large buildings. Often the Giant Rock will build its hives in aggregates, as in numerous colonies will construct their combs close to one another. For example, one large and sturdy tree can hold up to 100 colonies. When this honeybee constructs its nest it will do so within 1 km of a water source, and also tend to be near areas with plentiful pollen and nectar sources. In addition, these nests are quite large and are required to be built vertically in order to hold the massive colony size, which ranges from ~60,000-100,000 worker bees. The Giant Rock Bee builds its nest out in the open, in order… Read more…
