The little bee can survive for tens of millions of years, and can reproduce endlessly all over the world, which is related to its unique way of survival, and also has the credit of the hive. Bees are social insects of social habitation, and hives are places for shelter and survival and development, whether in the wild or artificially farmed bee colonies, there must be a hive to develop. It can be said that the survival ability of the bee colony depends on the ability to maintain the normal environment of the hive. The hive structure should be precise, suitable for the development of the bee colony, and the bee colony should maintain normal hive temperature and humidity, so that the bee colony can develop healthily. Because the hive is of great significance to the swarm, building a hive is not a simple matter, and there are many mysteries.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="01" data-track="2" > the location and structure of wild hives are exquisite, and a good hive is conducive to the development of the bee colony. </h1>
Bees are wild and have only been farmed in captivity in recent centuries. Bees have evolved unique habits, and the structure of the hive is also exquisite in order to adapt to the environment.
There are many species of bees, and due to the environment and their own abilities, their living habits and nesting methods will be different. Bees prefer a quiet and cool environment, and the hive should maintain normal hive temperature and humidity. Therefore, the vast majority of bees will build their hives in caves, rock walls and other semi-enclosed places that are quiet and cool, and it is easy to maintain normal temperature and humidity. Captive bees also need to provide hive bee barrels for bees to build nests and develop. There are also a very small number of bees, such as large rows of bees, because of their good physique, the environment they live in is in a quiet and warm area, and they have the ability to maintain the temperature and humidity of the hive, and they will nest in bare places, such as trees and rock walls. In warmer areas, common medium bees may also nest on tree slopes. What kind of place do bees choose to nest? It is determined according to whether the climate environment can maintain the hive environment, and the hive temperature and humidity can be maintained, and the nest can be built in a quiet and safe place.
The size of the hive is not arbitrary, the number of nest spleens must be increased according to the increase of the bee colony, and the bee colony will never make more spleens without development. The size of the general wild hive is 20 to 80 liters, and 30 to 40 liters is the most common favorite hive size. The hive is generally located at the bottom, the hive door faces south, and the opening is small. Such a size and structure is also to facilitate the bee colony to maintain a normal environment, the nest site selection is successful, the nest structure is reasonable, the bee colony can develop healthily.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="02" data-track="6" > nest spleen is made by honey conversion, and making a spleen is not a simple and easy thing. </h1>
The hive is made up of a nest spleen, which is a hexagonal nest made of beeswax. Mathematicians and architects have also marveled at the hexagonal nests, and the fragile beeswax becomes a delicate hive with great wisdom. So where does beeswax come from? How does it taste? Beeswax is not collected by bees and is not as sweet as honey. Beeswax is secreted from the wax glands by young worker bees after eating enough honey, and from this point of view, beeswax is converted from honey. Worker bees can't secrete beeswax when they are hungry, and no matter how much honey there is, no worker bees of the right age will not secrete wax to make a spleen. Although beeswax is converted from honey, its composition is completely different from honey, and it does not have the sweet taste of honey. Beeswax is a white or yellowish solid, insoluble in water and has no taste. The taste of chewing wax is to describe beeswax, and it is beeswax that cannot be chewed when eating hive honey.
Making a spleen is not an easy task, and the energy of the worker bee is also consumed by a lot of honey. A nest spleen requires hundreds of thousands of worker bees to build, and it takes 6.25 kilograms of honey to build a 1 kilogram nest spleen. The nest spleen is only used for about a year, and the colony needs to consume at least 12.5% of the total honey to make a spleen. Bees do not eat beeswax, and worker bees cannot recycle the hive. Therefore, the bee colony only makes a spleen when it is needed, and the beekeeper cannot force the bee colony to make a spleen indiscriminately.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="03" data-track="9" > the use of the nest spleen is exquisite, the nest size is different, and the different areas of the hive have different roles. </h1>
The nest spleen is the place where the bee colony stores honey powder and caresses, and the nest that makes up is the home of the bees. Wild hives are all nearly spherical, and each nest spleen is near-fan-shaped. The nest spleen of the captive bee colony is rectangular, and the hive is also square. Why?
Bees are natural architects, and the design of nests is full of mysteries, and the design of hives is full of wisdom. People who know modern geometry know that the spherical shape makes the most use of space, and the bee colony designs the hive into a spherical shape, which can create the most utilized hive with the least amount of beeswax. The spherical shape makes it easier to maintain stability inside, and it is convenient for the colony to form a clump to maintain the hive temperature, so that the high utilization of the hive can make the swarm develop healthily. Bees work hard to make the swarm healthy, and the most important role of the hive is to raise children. Bee larval development needs to have a constant hive temperature and normal humidity, for the health of the spleen, it is necessary to put the spleen in the center of the hive, the outside of the hive is susceptible to temperature, it is used to store honey powder. Let the powder spleen be used as a thermal insulation layer, which can better protect the health of the spleen.
The laborers of the colony are worker bees, and the worker bees are the vast majority of the bee colonies, dominating the development of the bee colonies. Male bees are only the role of tail insemination, which is useless to the bee colony in normal times, and only accounts for a very small number. The bee colony is dominated by worker bees, and the males are only bred in small quantities during the breeding and mating period. Male bees are larger than worker bees, male hive rooms are also larger than worker hive rooms, in the spleen, worker bees should distinguish between worker hive rooms and male hive rooms. The small number of male hive houses with little effect are at the corners of the nest spleen, and the worker hive room is in the center of the nest spleen, accounting for the vast majority of the nest room. In this way, the bee colony can breed more worker bees, and when there is no need to cultivate male bees, the male hive room is used to store honey powder, which can make full use of the nest room, and let the honey powder spleen as a thermal insulation layer, which can better protect the health of the spleen.
Artificially farmed bees invented live-frame breeding for easy management, and specially designed beehives and hive spleens. Artificial beekeeping is to imitate the habits of bees as much as possible, but it is impossible to design a beehive like a wild hive. The hive must be stable, and the spherical hive is not only difficult to make, but also difficult to place and carry. In order to make effective use of the hive space, the hive spleen had to be designed to be square accordingly. Such a design is actually intended to be convenient for people, not to be good for bees. Square nest spleen bees are also unwilling to accept, if the swarm is weak, the nest spleen is difficult to reach the edge, or fan-shaped. Only when the bees are dense, the bee colony is forced to create a complete square nest spleen.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="04" data-track="14" > bee colonies will develop better in the stocking state, mainly bees can reasonably build hives according to their own wishes. </h1>
Wild bee colonies will develop well without manual management, and it is better to stock bee colonies and let them breed their spleens than to keep bees in live frames, which is confirmed by many beekeepers. So why is the scientifically designed hive bee frame not conducive to bee colony reproduction? In addition to the reasons why live frame breeding frequently disturbs the bee colony, it is more important that the live frame breeding does not meet the characteristics of bee colony nesting and affects the reproduction of the bee colony.
The hive is spherical and the nest spleen is fan-shaped, which can make full use of space and ensure the health of the spleen. Give the hive bee frame, force the bee swarm to create a square nest spleen, and when the number of bees is insufficient, the nest spleen at the corner is exposed. Without bee protection of the spleen, it will breed germ viruses or nest worms, which will seriously affect the health of the bee colony. The square hive does not have a strong bee colony, it is difficult to maintain the normal hive temperature and humidity, the health of the spleen will be seriously affected, and the reproductive ability of the bee colony will decline. If beekeepers frequently open the box and check the spleen, it will be more difficult for the bee colony to maintain a normal hive environment, and of course it will be difficult to develop.
So if you want to really understand bees, you still have to carefully study wild bee colonies and wild beehives. Our seemingly simple wild hive is actually much smarter than a well-designed hive, a nest spleen. Beekeepers should try to follow the habits of bees, let the bee colony make their own spleen, and make reasonable use of the hive. Love bees should try to keep the swarm in a quiet and comfortable state, do not open the box to check, disturb the swarm.