Apis mellifera
Introduction
This website is about the insect
Apis mellifera, commonly known as the Honey Bee. Through out this
website, the name honey bee refers to this particular species. To begin
with I would like to give couple of vocabulary words which should help in the
understanding of the text.
Comb or honey comb- is a frame
structure of hexagonal cells which is made out of bee’s wax, which honey bees
use to raise brood and store honey.
Drone- is the name given to male
honey bees. Their single purpose is to mate with the queen.
Worker- is
the name given to the female honey bees that are sexually immature. They take
care of the queen and do the work around the hive.
The Queen- The queen’s job is to
lay the eggs in the hive. She also releases pheromones to direct the actions of
the workers.
Royal Jelly- is what is fed to
the queen larva, which helps to stimulate hormones which will help to allow the
larva to become a queen. It consists of a high concentration of mandibular
gland secretions, hypopharyngeal gland secretions, and pollen.