NORTH SOMERSET BEEKEEPERS
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Children, Youth groups and Schools

learn about honeybees

what are honeybees?

Honeybees are insects. The honeybee lives in groups called a colony. They first evolved about 35 million years ago in tropical Africa and because honey is so popular, bees now live all over the world.

what is a bee's life cycle?

The queen lays each egg in one cell of the honeycomb. Each egg hatches and a little worm-like larva crawls out. The worker bees feed pollen and honey to the baby larva. Soon, it spins a web blanket inside​ the cell and becomes a pupa. After 16 to 24 days, a fully grown bee climbs out of the cell. They live between 3 to 6 months depending on the time of year and food available.

are all the bees in the colony the same?

No. There are different bees for different jobs. Every colony has one queen, which is the largest bee. The workers are female bees and are the smallest in size but the largest in number. There are also male drones and the brood is made up of eggs, larvae, and pupae.

What is a hive and howdoes it work?

The hive is the colony’s home or nest. The outside is often a man- made box like this one, and the in- side is made from wax, which the bees produce themselves. The queen and most of the bees live in the bottom of the hive in the brood chamber. The top contains the honey.

Why do bees swarm?

As the number of bees in the hive increases, some of the bees leave to set up a new colony in a new location. They form a big group known as a swarm. The queen leaves the colony and about half of the worker bees and drones follow her in search of a new home. She is usually replaced with a new queen after a couple of weeks. Another new queen is left behind with the other half to continue the old colony.

journey into a bee hive

Catching a swarm

some other useful links:

The British Beekeepers Association. A lot of general information here:
http://www.bbka.org.uk/

A good introduction in how to keep bees:
http://www.bestbeekeeping.com

Find out about the history ot bee hives at: http://outdoorplace.org/beekeeping/history1.htm  
​
Beekeeping for beginner

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex3946

Click here to download/print out this information as a leaflet
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Latest News
    • Our Blog
    • Social Media Pages
    • Club Newsletters
    • Committee Meeting Minutes
  • Events & Courses
  • Members Section
    • Introduction
    • Apiary Rota 2022
    • Become a Member
    • Membership Renewal
    • Group Purchase Scheme
    • Extractor hire
    • Members Facebook Group
    • Christmas supper
    • Hive Record Card
  • Education & Advice
    • For Beekeepers
    • Children, Youth groups and schools
    • Teachers and Youth group leaders
    • Seasonal Advice
    • LibraryBooks
  • Swarm Collection
  • Contact Us
  • Committee Meeting Minutes