A beehive is more than just a home—it’s a living, breathing family. Honey bee hives are often called colonies or families because they contain one close-knit community of bees working for the same purpose: to protect the hive and ensure the wellbeing of all its members. Every honey bee, every moment of its life, is devoted to this mission.
There are three types of bees in a hive:
– One queen,
– A number of drones (male bees, making up 1–20% depending on the season),
– And thousands of worker bees (females, making up 80–99%).
In summer, a single hive may contain up to 80,000 bees, all functioning as one remarkable superorganism.
**The Queen Bee**
The queen has one purpose: to lay eggs—up to 2,000 per day. She’s the only fertile female in the hive and is responsible for the colony’s future. Her pheromones influence the development and behaviour of all other bees, helping maintain harmony. Every queen starts out like any other larva. What transforms her into a queen is her diet of royal jelly—a nutrient-rich substance produced by young worker bees. This special food gives her a larger body, longer life (4–5 years), and reproductive ability. She mates only once, during her first and only flight from the hive.
**Drone Bees**
Drones are male bees with one job: to mate with a queen (not from their own hive). They have large eyes, do not collect nectar or pollen, and do not have stingers. Most of the time, drones lounge around or take mating flights. After mating, they die. Drones that don’t mate are typically expelled from the hive before winter. There is usually one drone for every 100 worker bees.
**Worker Bees**
Worker bees are all female and do nearly everything in the hive. Although infertile due to the queen’s pheromones, they hold multiple jobs in their short lives: cleaning the hive, feeding larvae, grooming the queen, making wax, ventilating the hive, guarding the entrance, and foraging for nectar. As they age, they take on more complex roles like scouting. In just 5–6 weeks, a worker bee may hold a dozen different jobs. As poet William Blake once said, “The busy bee has no time for sorrow.”
A beehive is more than just a home—it’s a living, breathing family. Honey bee hives are often called colonies or families because they contain one close-knit community of bees working for the same purpose: to protect the hive and ensure the wellbeing of all its members. Every honey bee, every moment of its life, is devoted to this mission.
There are three types of bees in a hive:
– One queen,
– A number of drones (male bees, making up 1–20% depending on the season),
– And thousands of worker bees (females, making up 80–99%).
In summer, a single hive may contain up to 80,000 bees, all functioning as one remarkable superorganism.
**The Queen Bee**
The queen has one purpose: to lay eggs—up to 2,000 per day. She’s the only fertile female in the hive and is responsible for the colony’s future. Her pheromones influence the development and behaviour of all other bees, helping maintain harmony. Every queen starts out like any other larva. What transforms her into a queen is her diet of royal jelly—a nutrient-rich substance produced by young worker bees. This special food gives her a larger body, longer life (4–5 years), and reproductive ability. She mates only once, during her first and only flight from the hive.
**Drone Bees**
Drones are male bees with one job: to mate with a queen (not from their own hive). They have large eyes, do not collect nectar or pollen, and do not have stingers. Most of the time, drones lounge around or take mating flights. After mating, they die. Drones that don’t mate are typically expelled from the hive before winter. There is usually one drone for every 100 worker bees.
**Worker Bees**
Worker bees are all female and do nearly everything in the hive. Although infertile due to the queen’s pheromones, they hold multiple jobs in their short lives: cleaning the hive, feeding larvae, grooming the queen, making wax, ventilating the hive, guarding the entrance, and foraging for nectar. As they age, they take on more complex roles like scouting. In just 5–6 weeks, a worker bee may hold a dozen different jobs. As poet William Blake once said, “The busy bee has no time for sorrow.”