Honey Bees are an important part of the natural landscape and valuable to the
Texas economy. Unfortunately, honey bees become unwelcome guests when
they nest around homes, schools and businesses. The presence of the
Africanized honey bee in most Texas counties makes the risk of encountering
bees even greater.
Honey bee colonies build a wax comb in which to rear their young and store
food. Each bee colony contains one fertile queen, drone bees and worker
bees. The queen is the only female that can lay fertilized eggs and she can
live 2 to 5 years. The drones are male bees. Their function is to mate with new
queens. Drones cannot sting. The number of drones is highest in the spring
and summer. Most bees in a colony are workers. Workers are infertile females.
They perform most of the functions bees are known for, such as making honey
and defending the colony. There may be as many as 60,000 workers in a
healthy, productive colony. The average number is 30,000.
Honey bees occasionally move all or part of their colony to new nesting
locations. This behavior is called "swarming," and is part of the colony's
normal reproductive process. Swarms occur most often in the spring and early
summer and usally start as colonies become crowded. When a colony
prepares to swarm, the bees produce a new queen. The old queen and about
half the worker bees will the parent colony and form a new one, allowing a
new queen to take over the remaining colony. When a swarm selects a new
nesting sight, the bees begin building comb in which to store food and rear
young. A new colony will become defensive within 2 to 4 weeks.
Also, it is true that honey bees can sting only once.
Texas economy. Unfortunately, honey bees become unwelcome guests when
they nest around homes, schools and businesses. The presence of the
Africanized honey bee in most Texas counties makes the risk of encountering
bees even greater.
Honey bee colonies build a wax comb in which to rear their young and store
food. Each bee colony contains one fertile queen, drone bees and worker
bees. The queen is the only female that can lay fertilized eggs and she can
live 2 to 5 years. The drones are male bees. Their function is to mate with new
queens. Drones cannot sting. The number of drones is highest in the spring
and summer. Most bees in a colony are workers. Workers are infertile females.
They perform most of the functions bees are known for, such as making honey
and defending the colony. There may be as many as 60,000 workers in a
healthy, productive colony. The average number is 30,000.
Honey bees occasionally move all or part of their colony to new nesting
locations. This behavior is called "swarming," and is part of the colony's
normal reproductive process. Swarms occur most often in the spring and early
summer and usally start as colonies become crowded. When a colony
prepares to swarm, the bees produce a new queen. The old queen and about
half the worker bees will the parent colony and form a new one, allowing a
new queen to take over the remaining colony. When a swarm selects a new
nesting sight, the bees begin building comb in which to store food and rear
young. A new colony will become defensive within 2 to 4 weeks.
Also, it is true that honey bees can sting only once.
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