Wild Nahani
The social life of bees
Short disclosure
The fundamental principle should be: avoid all the measures that disturb the order and the laws that they govern and regulate the life of the bees and according to which this is develops.
Ferdinand Gerstung
"Bees live in the shadow of the beehive, but they always find the way to the light "
To the natural world, to the dear memory of my father (Vittorio Spinetti) and in loving memory of my wife's
Elzbieta Mielczarek,
(1963-2014)
I will always remember you and I will always love you!
It is not a promise, but a certainty!
(Elzbieta Mielczarek 1963-2014)
PREFACE
The distinctive character of this book is its disclosure and simplification intent; in fact, while safeguarding the basic part of scientific notionism, it intended to express itself through a terminology also accessible to non-professionals. The latter have particularly inspired our commitment because the extraordinary spread of ecological consciousness suggests that, when they first approach the world of bees, they can remain fascinated by the harmony that regulates the life of the beehive, admirable testimony of the balance of nature.
Just thinking about fans of the natural world, as well as small beekeepers, we have endeavored to give the material an exposure that can be appreciated by those unfamiliar with naturalistic problems.
The publication has been enriched with numerous drawings and didactic photos that accentuate its understanding.
However, we note that this work is not a beekeeping book because, as mentioned, it only exposes the natural life of the social bees, but it is considered very important to learn the bee's ethics even earlier - for those who wish to do so - of 'beekeeping activity in such a way that, the beekeeper, knowing the basics about the life of these insects, when he will practice the various techniques of beekeeping, can always refer to the "costumes" of bees not to operate in such a way that his techniques they are in contrast with the wonderful world of these hymenopterans. It is believed that at the base of every biological practice, in our case that of bees, it is strongly recommended to know first of all their behavior. Therefore, not being a beekeeping work, the most numerous must-haves of natural history can be greatly appreciated, the bees representing a particularly fascinating and, for many, totally obscure world. Reading the various steps of the text you will discover a truly surprising and varied animal ethic.
INTRODUCTION
The balance that is established between a given environment and the plant and animal world that gravitates on that environment is called the "ecosystem"; where it is not disturbed by man, it is a perfect balance that is marked according to the following rhythms: the light energy from the sun generates a certain development of plants, which allow a proportional survival of herbivorous animals which, in turn, feed a related number of carnivorous animals, according to a food "pyramid" which, in terms of kilocalories, responds to the following values: 1000 - 10 - 1 - 0.1. But the cycle would not be perfect if it stopped here, because the fate reserved for the remains of plants and animals would remain undefined: the latter are then processed by microorganisms (mainly fungi and bacteria) and returned to the soil under species of inorganic substances. Neither perfect equilibrium concerns only the living forms, because it also extends to inert matter which, through an incessant dialectic, tends to reach an optimal order, as it is possible to observe in the course of the rivers that do not exercise in any case a free violence to the detriment of the surrounding nature, but rather provide restlessly restoring the troubled balance, as they do when, by depositing the sandstones carried, they counteract the erosion that the sea produces at their mouth.
Such a balance is, or rather, it would be perfect if man did not intervene to disturb him with his senseless interventions, such as the indiscriminate use of herbicides and antigrittogamici, the uncontrolled deforestation, the discharge of poisons in rivers and seas , the introduction of poison gas or radioactive substances into the atmosphere. Nor must we believe that the pitfalls of the survival of living species are the most serious faults that can be attributed to man, because perhaps more serious, even if to a slower evolution, are the pitfalls that derive from the climatic upheaval (see the greenhouse effect) and of the inert matter, such as those connected, for example, to the deviation of a riverbed, to a damming of dams, to the deep drainage of the riverbeds, to the "reclamation" of lake marshes, etc. .. What is the effect produced by these, incisive tampering? Perhaps it does not reflect long enough on the close, intimate relationship between environment and living species, on what is scientifically called "adaptation", perhaps it is not clear that, for example, the killing of a wolf by a poacher is certainly a serious disturbance of the natural balance, an even greater disturbance is inherent in an act that, in changing the environment, determines, over time, the death of all the wolves in that area.
Before the civilized man "appeared" on earth, the whole world was "wilderness", an immense wilderness where only natural truth reigned. Then the civilized man arrived and, little by little, he took from the world and himself the unpredictable and "chaotic" harmony of nature that was the spirit of life.
Man is therefore responsible for providing for the preservation of nature (because he is the man who destroys it and therefore it is he who must preserve it); unless one wants to consider it as a simple component of dialectical materialism, which would have been entrusted with the task of subverting completely the natural environment: only this could be, in an ironic key, the essence of androcentric philosophy. Faced with such degradation, the defense of the environment must become a primary and global objective. But in conserving the natural world, the field must be cleared of a preliminary ruling that is of such importance that it assumes the value of a contradiction in terms, since this is precisely the claim of those who insist on considering the environmental problem exclusively in relation to man . Man is a part, a piece of the ecosystem, is not the navel of nature, so it is in grave error who subordinates the protection of the environment to the primacy of man. In short, there is the risk that our inveterate anthropocentrism is
always present in our speeches, everything and always for man. It is necessary to overturn such a conception to place the global interests of nature at the center (ecocentrism - holism). The rule must tend to preserve nature for its value in itself: in the end even man will take advantage of it but it will be a reflection, not the purpose of that rescue. "Civilization can not ignore the wilderness, the wild and uncorrupted nature!" (John Muir).
Among all living things it is necessary to remember one whose sensitivity to environmental mutations is extreme, because its link with the surrounding space is extreme: we intend to refer to the bee which, drawing from the inflorescences, ie from the most dynamic moment of the vegetative process , is for this very reason the organism extremely sensitive to any disturbance of the rhythm of nature. The entire organization of the hive is, moreover, a paradigm of the mysterious universal harmony, since the life that animates it, its incessant movement of tens of thousands of bees, seems to reproduce in a microcosm the perfect gravitational balance of a galaxy, and, as the galaxy is not the sum of the stars that compose it, but it is the expression of an admirable unitary design, so the hive is not the sum of the bees that populate it, but is a superior autonomous entity governed by a mysterious , perfect cohesion. Already Virgil, in the 4th book of the Georgics said: "they alone have in common the things of their city, and they spend their life under the great laws of nature, and they alone have a homeland and a fixed abode; and remembering the winter that they will experience in the summer the effort and put in common what has been procured from them. In fact, some think of food and, according to the established pact, they labor in the fields to look for it; others inside the walls of the houses place the tear of the narcissus and the gluten viscous of the bark of the trees as the first base of the combs, and then attack the tenacious wax; others lead the already grown up children, hope of the race; others accumulate the pure honey and swell the cells with clear nectar. There are those to whom the guard at the gates has their lot, and in turn observe the rains and clouds of the sky or, made the host, drive the drones away from the hive, idle genie. "
In reading such a description that the singular richness of the news unites the poetic inspiration, one remains amazed and one can not help but remember Thomas and Moro Campanella who in "Utopia" and in the "City of the sun" draw a model of society governed by laws that have striking analogies with those that regulate the life of the hive. The natural behavior of the bees thus gives rise to a rational organization of the hive in which the sum of the products obtained in the form of honey, pollen, propolis, wax, etc. it is higher than the sum of the spent energies. This is made possible by the rigorous division of labor, which sees the spoilers delegated to the supply of nectar, pollen, water and propolis; the guardians responsible for monitoring the hive; the other workers engaged in various functions closely related to their age; the queen, deputed to the laying of the eggs to ensure the perenniality of the family and, finally, the drones, the idle virgilian genie, who combine fertilization with death, the dramatic antithesis of the creative act.
But bees are life carriers under another aspect: in ensuring pollination of entomophilous plants, they increase considerably both the quantity and the production of fruits and seeds both from a quantitative and a qualitative point of view and therefore play a relevant role. from an economic point of view. However, the man repays with much other money their beneficial work sprinkling on the ground and on the vegetation deadly poisons, both induced and in a direct way. Under the first species we must first remember the radioactive fallout (fall-out), that of acid rain, the pollution of groundwater and other types of contamination; under the second species we remember the use of plant protection products (pesticides, herbicides, etc.) that farmers spread indiscriminately on crops. Such a senseless behavior is fatal for the beehive, which, as a perfect organism regulated on natural harmony, records at its own expense everything that may disturb the wide breath of nature. Neither the sudden death of the bee is the most serious and most formidable
event; far more devastating is the return of the bee intoxicated inside the hive, since in this case the whole family is destined more often than not to perish or otherwise to remain seriously intoxicated.
But, even from an alarming situation like the one just described, bees can draw inspiration to reaffirm their "altruistic" and "philanthropic" vocation; in fact they become involuntary "biological indicators" of the degree of pollution, either chemical or radioactive, electromagnetic or otherwise, and are therefore transformed into a valuable tool for scientific research aimed at determining with specialized techniques, but not excessively complex, the identification, extent and degree of pollution of specific areas. This is achieved by examining samples of adult bees, larvae, honeycombs, honey and pollen that have been contaminated, and by extending this practice on a large scale can be drawn up special maps that can divide a territory in areas of high, medium and low levels of environmental pollution.
But it is time to divert our thinking from such a bleak picture; instead let us turn towards the wonderful natural life that takes place inside the hive to observe with humility the natural behavior of an insect that, perhaps, has so much to teach us.
1. THE ORIGIN, EVOLUTION AND ADAPTATION OF THE BEES SOCIAL - SUMMARY OF PALEONTOLOGY APICOLA
- 1.1.- Origin, evolution and adaptation
Honey bee is a social insect; its social cohesion is so developed that it gives to an entire family the character of a biological entity in itself, superior and separate from the single individuals that compose it, so that these, taken in isolation, are unable to survive. However, there are also species of bees that indulge in a sort of anarchic instinct, live in perfect solitude and overwhelm in number of species those living in a colony; the latter still deserve particular attention because their organization stands at one of the highest stages of the evolutionary process. Obviously, during this study only the social bees will be taken into consideration, with particular reference to the most widespread honey breed, the so-called Apis mellifera.
When observing the morphology or behavior of an animal species it should be borne in mind that both are not immobile and immutable archetypes, but on the contrary represent dynamic and changing moments of the incessant dialectic of nature. The animal and plant world is in fact conditioned by genetic and environmental changes; social bees have undergone such conditioning both at the level of single individuals in remote times, and at group level in recent times (in an evolutionary sense of course). It seems that the geographical origin of honey bee is to be found in South Asia. It is thought that in the first of these stages the bee had an ancestor similar to the wasp that, passing from a carnivorous to a vegetarian, necessarily had to develop the structures dedicated to the collection of nectar and pollen. Here then the occurrence of the following morphological mutations: a ligule appears suitable for the collection of nectar, the hairs are formed on the body and the baskets on the legs to facilitate the collection and transport of the pollen, the ingluvies are enlarged to give rise to the formation of the melaria bag , appointed to deposit and transport nectar, water and honey (Grout, 1981).
In a subsequent stage the social bees achieve a group evolution, which is expressed through behavioral adaptations of a collective type, regulated by laws that could well be compared to a sort of "Corpus juris". These laws tend to define a set of behaviors able to satisfy two needs: the first is that which aims to create within the hive thermal conditions such as to neutralize the external climatic conditions, a circumstance of great importance for a cold-blooded insect what is the bee; the second is to remove the colony from the danger of death by starvation in the periods when the blooms cease. At the first requirement the bees have responded by creating a microclimate within the hive (we will look at the related phenomena of ventilation and glomere); the second requirement was met by the accumulation of stocks of honey and pollen arranged in real "warehouses". It is thanks to his anatomo - behavioral adaptations that the bee manages to survive and to spread from the equator to the extreme southern and boreal latitudes.
However, it is interesting to note that hypothetically, when a beehive is transferred from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere, the bees appear completely disoriented, which would seem to set up a kind of handicap of the complex associative mechanism, but in reality it is not so because the bees just born, ie those that have not had previous existential experience in the northern hemisphere, are grateful to calculate with extreme precision the position they occupy within the surrounding environment.
1.2.- Overview of apicular paleontology
The findings of bee fossils are, unfortunately, extremely rare, however, nothing prevents us from thinking that bees, like all other living beings (plants and animals), have undergone a gradual transformation over the millennia to adapt to the mutations of environment. The oldest finding of the cast of a swarm of social bees, is what is observed in the marble of Göttingen, which can be traced back to 35 million years ago, in the Miocene. However, it is presumed with almost absolute certainty that the existence of the honey bee is earlier than that date, going back to the Oligocene, as they were found faint images of bees in the fossil amber, while remaining in doubt the hypothesis that at that time the bee had already acquired a social structure. It seems possible that initially there were only solitary bees, and that - only later - part of them were aggregated to achieve the wonderful organization that distinguishes the hive (Grout, 1981).
Man, since the earliest times, has turned his interest to honey and the ways of taking possession of it, so much so that the oldest representation concerning honey collection dates back to a paleolithic age graffiti (about 20,000 years ago) discovered in 1921 in the cave of the Ragno, near Valenza, in Spain. The graffiti also depicts a group of bees flying around the intruder, as well as some concentric circles that presumably simulate the smoke used by humans to stun the bees. After tens of thousands of years there are still today primitive populations who, scattered in all parts of the world (Australia, Nepal, Amazonia, Africa, etc.), use the technique used by the unknown Paleolithic man. In addition to the graffiti mentioned there are many finds dated in later periods, such as for example the one that appears in a bas-relief sculpted in 2500 on the sarcophagus of the Pharaoh Mikerinos, now exhibited in the British Museum in London. The earliest written document concerning honey dates back to 2,700 a.c. and was found in Mesopotania, in Nippur Irak; they are small clay tablets in which some medicaments are described that have honey as their main component. It should also be remembered that the image of the bee, the pharaonic symbol of Upper and Lower Egypt, also applies to ancient Egyptian bas-reliefs depicting works concerning the extraction of honey. Finally we must remember that in recent times, starting from the 16th century d.c. ca. after the discovery of the new world, Apis mellifera was the object of a massive immigration from Europe to those new lands (eg in Australia, thanks to the isolation, we find the purest strains of Italian Apis bee ligustica).
2.- ANATOMY OF THE BEE
As in any other type of insect, the body of the bee is divided into three distinct parts: head (or head), thorax and abdomen and is covered by a chitinous substance called "exoskeleton" which acts as a protection and support. Here is a schematic and brief description of the anatomical structure of a bee.
- 2.1.- The head
The head is ovoid for the queen, roundish for the drones, vaguely triangular for the workers. In the head there are two compound eyes, made up of thousands of lenticular facets (called ommatidia), in the number of 3000 for the worker and 6/7000 for the drone; they, slightly roundish, are located laterally on the head. Then we observe three simple eyes called ocelli, placed on the forehead. The compound eyes fulfill two tasks, that is, the vision in the distance outside the hive and the orientation, while the simple eyes serve for close vision and for that in places with little light.
Lower than the eyes we find the mouthpiece formed by two jaws and a trumpet ligule. The jaws are indispensable for grasping small objects, for working wax, for opening operculum, and so on; the ligula instead serves to suck nectar, water or liquid honey. Depending on the breed, it can range from 5.5 to 7 mm. of length. On the front there are also two orientable, cylindrical antennas, which contain 2400 sensitive plates in the workers, 30,000 in the drone; they fulfill the function of an organ sensitive to humidity, temperature, odors, etc. A bee without antennas loses all relations with the outside world and is destined to die.
- 2.2.- The chest
Turning to the description of the thorax, also called corsaletto, we note that it is divided into three parts resulting from the welding of three rings. In each ring there are a pair of legs that, in addition to having the obvious function of ambulation and support, also play, in a differentiated way, other important functions. In fact, the front legs are provided with a kind of circular brush, called witch, which is used for cleaning the antennas and the mouthpiece; the intermediate legs are provided with both a bristle through which the bee detaches the pollen from the baskets which are placed on the hind legs, both a kind of comb and brush. The apparatuses responsible for collecting and transporting the pollen appear exclusively in the workers.
The terminal part of each leg is provided with a claw and a suction cup; the claws are used to allow the bee to move on irregular surfaces or to grasp things or insects, while the suction cups allow it to move on smooth, even vertical surfaces.
Another important component of the thorax is constituted by two pairs of wings which, placed on the second and third rings, are distinguished in larger anterior, and smaller ones. Their function is diversified: in fact, the front wings are used for the actual flight, while the rear wings are used mainly for directional movements. The wings, which are transparent and held taut by special ribs, are also used for ventilation. The wing beats of a worker bee oscillate between 180 and 500 cycles per second.
- 2.3.- The abdomen
Now let's see how the abdomen is made. It is composed of seven telescopic rings on whose sides small holes called stigmas are noted; these, together with those present in
the three rings of the thorax, perform - as part of the respiratory process - the function of valves, and put the trachee in communication with the outside. In the last ring of the abdomen is the sting that is retractable and is formed by hooked bristles. It is absent in the drones, while in the queen it is saber-shaped and has smaller hooks. The sting is able to inoculate a poison produced by two venom glands, one acidic, the other alkaline; if it is inserted in the body of a mammal or a bird, it - thanks to its hook shape - remains stuck in the point it has hit. This characteristic is fatal to the bee because, in retreating, it leaves its seventh abdominal segment attached to the sting, miserably losing. However, it - before dying - emits a particular pheromone (alarm pheromones) that serves to put the companions on notice.
Finally, still in the abdomen, between the third and last but one ring, there is the genital apparatus which, atrophied in the workers, is active and functioning in the queen and the drone.
- 2.4.- The internal structure
Let's see now how the anatomy of the bee presents itself internally:
we observe a digestive system that consists of: the bag, which has the function of containing the water or nectar piled by flowers, as well as honey; the average intestine which has the function of digesting foods; the posterior intestine that precedes the rectum and acts as a deposit of the dejections before their expulsion (in winter the dejections can remain in place for a long time).
Then we have the respiratory system which, as previously mentioned, communicates with the outside thanks to 10 pairs of stigmas present in the thorax (3) and in the abdomen (7); they follow the trachee which, undergoing dilation, form the so-called air bags from which other very thin tracheas, called tracheoles, depart, which - charged with the task of directly bringing oxygen to the organs and internal tissues - allow respiratory exchanges. The circulatory system has the function of distributing in the various parts of the body the nutrients and to collect those of waste. The vector of this function is the hemolymph, the "blood" of the bees, which is a colorless, incoagulable and globule-free liquid. Unlike what happens in mammals, the circulation of hemolymph does not occur exclusively through specific vessels (veins and arteries), but also occurs freely in the body, thus giving rise to a mixed circulation, both vasal and lacunar. The circulation of the hemolymph is ensured both by a pulsating vessel called the heart and by the contraction of a ventral and dorsal diaphragm.
Turning to the nervous system, it is observed that it consists of: a central system located in the brain; from a visceral system that, starting from the brain, is divided into a sympathetic visceral system and a sympathetic ventral system; finally from a peripheral nervous system made up of numerous cells connected to each other.
Finally we find the muscular system, formed by striated fibers, and particularly developed in the thorax, seat of the locomotion organs (wings and legs).
- 2.5.- The glands
We can not conclude these brief anatomical notes without taking care of the numerous glands present in the body of the bees, divided into:
- Hypopharyngeal glands, located in the head; present only in the workers and active in young nurses aged between 5 and 15 days, have the task of secreting the white part of the royal jelly;
- Mandibular glands, also placed in the head, present both in the workers and in the queen, with different functions (in the queen they serve to secrete the royal pheromone, in the workers are in symbiosis with the hypopharyngeal ones for the production of royal jelly);
Nasanoff's gland (or Nasanof, Nasonof), exclusive of the workers, is located between the 6th and 7th rings of the abdomen and is responsible for the secretion of an olfactory signal, called pheromone. When the gland starts working, the workers clap their wings in order to spread the pheromone smell;Cerary glands, present only in the workers in the number of four pairs, are placed in the lower part of the abdomen, and are activated in the age between 12/20 days;Venomous glands, in number of two, one acid, and the other alkaline, connected to the sting;Labial glands, appearing both in the queen and in the drone and in the workers, are located in the head and in the thorax. The purpose of these glands is to dissolve solid foods; other functions are not yet fully known.
3.- THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE BEE THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FAMILY
- 3.1.- Classification
The honey bee is an insect pronubo, that is an insect that, as the definition says, favors the wedding, as it determines the fertilization of the flowers transporting the pollen from the stamens to the pistils, a function on which we will diffuse more widely; undergoes a complete metamorphosis passing from the stage of larva, propupa, pupa (or nymph) up to that of fully formed insect; it belongs to the order of the aculean hymenopterans, to the suborder of the apocrites, to the Apidi family; it counts numerous widespread genres in the world.
- 3.2.- The bee breeds
The bees, in the different races that distinguish them, have evolved over the millennia independently of human intervention. Their extraordinary diffusion in the planet is due to a surprising ability to adapt, through which the bees' habitat has extended from the extreme north and from the extreme south to the equator. Obviously there are some differentiations between the bees that reside in one place, compared to those that reside in another, but this does not change, in essence, the anatomical-morphological identification. Small differences, even within the same race, have sometimes appeared by man, when the bees have been moved to places characterized by environmental conditions very different from those of the places where they previously lived. However, the concept of race, referring to the bee, should not be understood as the result of artificial selection made by man, as was the case for domestic animals, but must be understood as the result of a natural selection, which has the bee-behavioral structure of the bee is adapted to the environmental characteristics in which it is found.
The main characters that distinguish the various races can be identified in five points (Grout, 1981):
- dimensions;
- color;
- length of the ligule;
3) hair of the integument;
5) vein of the wings (cubital index).
In the genus Apis there are four species:
- Apis dorsata
- Apis florea
- Apis indica (or cerana)
- Apis mellifera
(the latter, subdivided into numerous subspecies, is the most widespread).
Apis dorsata
- diffusion: India, Indochina, Ceylon, the Sunda archipelago and the Philippines.
- characteristics: giant bee, builds the nest outdoors (single large honeycomb: 1 or 2 m), is very aggressive and is a good nectar picker.
Apis florea
- diffusion: India, Java, Ceylon, Borneo, Sumatra, Burma.
- characteristics: bee dwarf, build small honeycombs, generally on the branches of the trees (single honeycomb).
Apis indica or cerana
- diffusion: Asia (India, China, Japan)
- characteristics: medium-sized bee, very tame, but not very laborious.
Apis mellifera
- diffusion: in almost all the world with numerous subspecies
- characteristics: bee of medium size, gentle, excellent harvester, builds the nest in the dark (hollow trunks, cracks of rocks, etc.) with numerous parallel vertical combs that maintain a constant distance between them. The honeycombs generally assume a contour similar to that of the environment in which the nest develops. Thanks to the natural characteristic of building nests in the dark, this breed is adapted to be bred by wood or similar structures. This breed includes numerous subspecies that are, among other things, the most bred for honey production. The main ones are:
- Apis mellifera mellifera, called German bee, dark in color, slightly aggressive, but very resistant to cold; in fact, it is present in Scandinavia, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Denmark, Great Britain, Belgium, former U.R.S.S., France, Switzerland, northern Italy (and almost all over the rest of Europe). The subspecies of the honeybee mellifica are the apis mellifica sylvarum widespread in Scandinavia / northern areas former USSR, the apis mellifica lehzei widespread in the Netherlands.
- Apis mellifera ligustica, called Italian bee, of light coloration (yellow abdominal bands) is considered among the best breeds in the world, both for productivity, both for the quality of the queen, both for its domesticity. As well as in Italy, it is present in almost the whole world, as it is often exported.
- Apis mellifera sicula, is a black bee, slightly smaller than the bee-ligustica, but with similar biological characteristics. It is widespread in Sicily where it lives with the ligustica, with which it is often crossed.
- Apis mellifera carnica, distributed in the eastern Alps, in the Carpathians and the Balkans, is gentle, sufficiently active, prone to swarming and is very resistant to low temperatures.
- Apis mellifera caucasica, similar to the German bee, lives in the Caucasus regions and is a breed that produces a lot of propolis and an extremely white wax; it has a gentle character and a limited swarming.
- Apis mellifera banatica, present in Yugoslavia and Romania, is brown in color and is very resistant to different climates.
- Apis mellifera cypria, present on the island of Cyprus, looks very similar to Italian, but smaller; it is in sharp decline because it is not very active, aggressive and easy to swarm.
- Apis mellifera syriaca, is similar to the Cypriot, both in morphological and behavioral characteristics and, like the other, is in decline.
- Apis mellifera remipes, of yellow color, is present along the Caspian Sea coast. The main non-European apis mellifera breeds are:
A.m. bandaged, also called lamarkii, present in Egypt, Syria, Somalia, Sudan;A.m. unicolor, black, present on the island of Madagascar and in the regions of South- East Africa;A.m. intermissa, present in North Africa;A.m. capensis, present in south-western Africa;A.m. adonsonii, present in tropical Africa;A.m. sahariensis, present in the oases of the Sahara desert;A.m. jemenitica, present in Yemen and in the south-east of Arabia; etc.
- 2.3.- General characteristics of bee breeds of apistical interest
From a general point of view, the characteristics of the main bee breeds used for honey production are as follows:
- Apis mellifera mellifera
- Origin and distribution: native to Europe, to the north and west of the Alps, as well as to central Russia; it is distributed in Germany, Hungary, Austria, Denmark, Great Britain, Belgium, former U.R.S.S., France, Switzerland, northern Italy (and in almost all the rest of Europe).
- Appearance: relatively large bee with short ligule (from 5,7 to 6,3 mm), quite large abdomen and dark coloring, with no yellow bands; sufficiently hairy.
- Behavior: medium-aggressive bee, easily detached from the combs, has a slow spring development, while it becomes strong and dynamic in late summer. It has a poor tendency to swarm and a remarkable resistance to cold and inconstant climates, excellent wintering machine.
- Apis mellifera ligustica
- Origin and distribution: originating in Italy (excluding Sicily), it is distributed, as well as in Italy, in many parts of the world, as it is often exported.
- Appearance: slightly smaller than mellifera and more slender; has a ligule about 6.5 mm long; the coloration is clear, with the presence of yellow bands, whose amplitude varies within the same race; medium hairy.
- Behavior: generally calm and therefore not aggressive; very strong development starting from spring, it forms strong, dynamic and active families. Good producer, it is generally inclined to looting and drifting; it adapts well to the Mediterranean climate, while it does not bear the winter climate of central-northern Europe. When necessary, it breeds a limited number of real cells (from 5 to 15). Overall, this breed, in the opinion of many, is among the best, with particular reference to the qualities of the queen; for its characteristics, as mentioned, the ligustica has been and is often exported.
- Apis mellifera carnica
- Origin and distribution: originating from the area south of the Austrian Alps and the northern Balkans, it is currently distributed in the central-eastern Alps, Austria, Yugoslavia, southern Germany, the southern part of Russia.
- Appearance: it has a larger size of mellifera and ligustica and is of medium dark color, with short and thick hair. The ligule has a length of about 6.6 mm.
c) Behavior: among the most mild and gentle races, they are rarely separated from the combs; presents a very high spring development but winters in small families. Very inclined to the swarming, it has very little disposition to the looting and the drift; adapts well to cold and long winter climates, wintering without serious problems. From some authors, it is considered among the races that have more vitality and, therefore, capacity for development.
- Apis mellifera caucasica
- Origin and distribution: it is native to the Caucasus, where it is mostly distributed.
- Appearance: similar to carnica, it has a longer ligule measuring approximately 7 mm and therefore very suitable for dropping flowers with a deep corolla (eg violet clover).
- Behavior: meek race with late development, it has a tendency to drift and to pillage, while it has a not very important swarming. It makes very high use of propolis, which produces in abundance (for this reason in the countries where it is present you make many preparations with this substance); has some wintering problems, as it is very sensitive to the Nosema apis. It has the characteristic of raising, when necessary, many real cells.
- 4.4.- Biometrics applied to bees
For greater completeness it is now necessary to deal with the data concerning biometrics applied to bees; this is intended as the measurement of morphological characteristics in order to catalog the variations that distinguish the various bee breeds. With the biometric survey one can evaluate the purity of a breed and, if necessary, ascertain the presence of particular hybrids. In order to carry out a sufficiently significant biometric analysis it is necessary to take a variety of morphological characters, but to perform a simplified and reliable investigation, it is sufficient to consider 5 morphological characters:
- cubital index, understood as the relationship between two particular veins of an anterior wing;
- length of the villosity of the 5th abdominal ring (or tergite) expressed in mm .;
- index of the yellow band of the tergites, measured in mm., At the height of the second abdominal ring;
- measurement in mm. of the ligule length.
The average data concerning the four main breeds of beeistic interest are the following: (data taken from Bailo, 1983).
- Apis mellifera ligustica = cubital index: 2.30 length of the villosity of the 5th tergite: 0.30 mm. 2nd siphon color: 1.75 mm.
width of the villous fascia of the 4th ring: 0.85 mm. ligule length: 6.5 mm.
- A. m. mellifera = cubital index: 1.75
length of the villosity of the 5th tergite: 0.46 mm. 2nd siphon color: 0.25 mm.
width of the villous fascia of the 4th ring: 0.75 mm. ligule length: 6.3 mm.
- A. m. carnica = cubital index: 2.60
length of the villosity of the 5th tergite: 0.30 mm. color of the 2nd tergite: 0,35 mm.
width of the villous fascia of the 4th ring: 0.90 mm. ligule length: 6.6 mm.
- A.m. Caucasian = cubital index: 2.00
length of the villosity of the 5th tergite: 0.30 mm. color of the 2nd tergite: 0.30 mm.
width of the villosa fascia of the 4th ring: 1.00 ligule length: 7.00 mm
- 4.5.- The organization of the family
Apis mellifera, to which reference is constantly made in this paper, lives in populous permanent colonies in which the group instinct and the division of labor are strongly accentuated. It should be kept in mind however that when we say colony, family or group we do not refer to a set of homogeneous individuals, but we refer to an association of different individuals, who have specific tasks that are classified according to the following division.
Queen
Fertile female who has two basic tasks: to lay eggs and ensure the cohesion of the family through the emission of specific odors, called pheromones; it - having the length of 18/20
mm. and the thorax of 4.2 mm.- is bigger than a worker but, as often happens also in the life of men, being bigger does not mean being more intelligent, so much so that its cerebral structure is less advanced than that of the worker bee. It is coupled with the drones only once in life during the nuptial flight and enters into the spermateca the semen necessary for the fertilization of the eggs. At the height of the deposition, that is, in the spring / summer period, it can also lay 1500/2000 eggs a day; the volume of the deposition is not only related to the general characteristics of the queen (race, physical condition, age, etc.), but is also influenced by the strength of the family and by the worker's activity of bobbing. During the cold months the deposition stops altogether; however, already towards January / February, although slowly, it can resume. The dynamics of the deposition is as follows: the queen inspects the honeycomb and introduces the head into each of the cells encountered in its path; if it finds a cell that, besides being free of eggs, also responds to other requirements (general cleaning, integrity of its walls, etc.), it inserts the abdomen and in a few moments it lays the egg; this, attached to the cell thanks to the gluten that surrounds it, is presented on the first day in a vertical position, the second one is slightly laid down, the third one is placed completely (the position of the egg may however present some anomaly). The egg has a translucent white color and has a shape similar to that of a seed of niger; after three days of deposition, a small larvicina opens up and takes a slightly rolled up position (in the shape of a C).
The queen is assisted by a bevy of young workers, the so-called "ladies of honor" who provide for its nutrition, defense and cleanliness. The average life span of the queen is about 3/4 years; it is provided with a sting that only uses for antagonism towards the sisters; in fact, when two queens live together in a beehive (a very rare event), they collide head-on and start a fight from which the most "astute" queen, stronger and healthier, will emerge. The winner is accepted by the workers with demonstrations, so to speak, of joy and sympathy.
A new queen who for various reasons is not accepted by the workers (as happens for example when it is introduced by the beekeeper without the necessary precautions), can be suppressed by the workers themselves, who never use the sting, but they instead
serve the so-called adjacency, which consists in grouping closely around the queen, until it suffocates it.
The Fuchi
Males of the colony, present in limited numbers and only during the summer, are deputies to the following tasks: to fertilize the virgin queens, to collaborate with the workers for the transformation of the nectar into honey, to contribute to the heating of the brood, to stimulate the workers' activities through the emission of a specific odor. They are born by parthenogenesis (from the Greek "partenos", virgin and "genesis", birth / origin) from unfertilised eggs, are stingless, have a squat body (length 15 mm - chest width 5 mm.), Large compound eyes ; they are reduced to a state of absolute subordination towards the workers because they can not feed themselves if not taken by them. They have a very unhappy fate and, in some respects, dramatic because at the end of the summer season, or when the grazing falls abruptly, they - strong honey consumers, but "idle genie" as Virgil calls them - are chased away by the bees with a ruthless sequence that sees the poor fuchi succumbing miserably after having opposed a useless passive resistance. However, it is not excluded that some drone will winter inside the hive.
The workers
With a size of 12/13 mm. in length for 4 mm. wide in the chest, they are considerably smaller than the queen, but this gap does not diminish its importance because they represent about 90% of the entire population of the hive. Their average life during the active season, which corresponds to the spring / summer period, is 4/6 weeks, while it lasts up to 6 months during the autumn / winter season. Such an amazing biological behavior finds its reason in two opposing factors: the stressful expenditure of energy to which bees are subjected during the active season; the long period of rest during the adverse weather conditions, to which is added the emergence of a physiological defense that consists of a significant development of the hypopharyngeal glands as well as fat bodies rich in proteins.
The amazement that arouses such a perfect instrument of balance increases if we consider that the numerical consistency of adult bees keeps in constant equilibrium with regard to the extension of the brood and the food supply, thus offering us a further testimony of deterministic connections to which nature recurs sometimes to maintain its mysterious and wonderful balance.
- 4.6.- Workers' activities
The worker bees represent the true engine of the hive; they, attentive and tireless, carry out all the necessary work for the community except for laying eggs and maintaining family cohesion. Their important function, modulated according to age, is expressed in:
- 1.- internal activity, corresponding to the first 20/25 days of life;
- 2.- external activity, corresponding to the remaining 10/15 days of life. During the first period the workers perform the following tasks:
- cell cleaning, heating and brood protection (from the 1st to the 3rd day);
- feeding of the larvae and the queen (from the 3rd to the 12th day);
- wax secretion, honeycomb construction, stocking, hive cleaning, internal ventilation and everything else you need to do (from the 12th to the 20th day);
- guard duty (from the 18th to the 22nd / 25th day).
During the second period the worker bees carry out the collection activity by bottling the following products:
nectar pollen propolis water
It should also be noted that, where the balance of the hive is disturbed by any extraneous factor, the relationship existing between the age of the bee and the explicit work may undergo some variation.
The denominations attributed to the bees according to the tasks that they perform are the following:
- feeders: they take care of the feeding of the larvae and the queen, as well as the protection and heating of the brood;
- ladies of honor: assigned to the cleaning, feeding and protection of the queen;
- fans: they refresh the internal environment and make the honey mature through the evaporation of the excess water that it contains; to achieve this purpose they quickly beat the wings by carrying out up to 500 cycles per second;
- ceraiole: appointed to produce the wax necessary for the construction of the combs;
- architects: they order and prepare the construction of the combs;
- masons: close cracks in the nest or make other repairs using wax and propolis;
- chemical workers: through the emission of formic acid they provide for the conservation of honey;
- capsule fillers: they close the alveoli of the honeycombs containing honey or mature larvae;
- sweepers: preside at cleaning the nest;
-necrofore: remove the corpses of the companions, or other insect accidentally entered the hive, to transport them out of the hive;
- guardians: responsible for the defense of the nest;
-bottling machines: responsible for the external collection of substances necessary for the survival of the colony;
- explorers: responsible for identifying a new residence during the swarming phases.
4.- BUILDING OF THE FAVI
- 4.1.The nests of the bees and the "bee space"
The natural nests of the bees vary according to the breed considered. Some breeds use to build their nest made up of a single honeycomb (Apis dorsata and Apis florea) outdoors, while Apis mellifera and Apis indica or cerana use to build their nest inside natural cavities (hollow trunks, rocky ravines, etc.) building several parallel combs, of medium size, vertically and intertwined; however, it can sometimes happen that they can build outdoor nests. The rational beekeeping, adapting itself to the characteristics of the bees that use building their nests in the dark, has managed to transfer these breeds in the wooden hives (or possibly, but rarely, in other material), without altering the biological rhythm. These must be constructed in such a way as to allow the mobility of the combs, mobility that allows the beekeeper to live, as it were, inside the apiary, to observe the changes and the development of the family. This need for control has stimulated studies aimed at achieving the construction of a type of hive that was a sort of "glass house", in the sense that nothing that happens inside it can escape the attention of the beekeeper. In order to reach such a result, it was necessary first to remove the obstacle represented by the "ligaments" and "bridges" which, by combining the honeycombs with each other, prevent their removal without damaging them or causing disturbance to the bees. The problem was brilliantly solved by Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth, American Reverend, who in 1851 determined a minimum of 7.9 mm, and a maximum of 9.6 mm. the so-called "space of ape", the space that must exist between the side strips of the frames (canvases: square or rectangular wooden frames within which the honeycombs are made by bees) and the walls of the apiary, as well as between the upper part of the frames and the lid of the apiary itself.
- 4.2.- The construction technique of honeycombs
Construction of the combs and breeding of the brood are in close correlation, indeed we can say that without the first there would be no second. Here the wax, the raw material of the honeycombs, therefore comes to take on a basic task in the life of the hive; it is produced by four pairs of glands allocated in the abdomen, active in workers between the 12th and 18th / 20th day of life; the secretion of wax is conditioned by the consumption of honey and pollen and requires a temperature of at least 33/36 ° C .. Let's see now how the construction of the honeycombs takes place.
The workers in charge of the need to chain each other, to form real bunches that fulfill the function of a variable-sized scaffolding; Once the chain is formed, the workers put the wax glands into operation and, once they have collected the small flakes of wax, they take them to the jaws with their forelegs, chewing them carefully. The wax thus processed for a period of 4/5 minutes, is then placed in place for the construction of the combs; It should be noted that the entire operation requires a great expenditure of energy, so it is calculated that the workers consume 10 kg. of honey to produce just one kg. of wax.
- 4.3.- The structure and functions of the combs
Given the construction methods of the combs, let us now consider the structure and purposes, not without making a preliminary reflection: if an architect wanted to design a set of perfectly identical hexagons and connect them to each other in order to occupy the minor possible space, it should certainly develop mathematical and geometric
calculations of considerable difficulty. Well, the bees achieve the aim without resorting to algebra or the computer, through a mysterious, elusive intuition that leaves admired and perplexed. By joining together thousands of hexagonal cells, honey bees form honeycombs which have a dual function:
- accepting the brood in its entire cycle of development (eggs, larvae, nymphs);
- store supplies of honey and pollen.
But let's look more closely at the constructive and functional characteristics of the cells. We note first that wasps, which also build honeycombs with hexagonal cells, have not been able to solve the problem inherent to the maximum economy of material and time with the same ingenuity that bees give an example. The gap between the two solutions can be summarized as follows: the wasps build the cells on one side of the honeycomb, while the bees build them on both sides, so that the opposing cells have a common fund, thus creating the relevant economy we have talked about. Of great importance is also a further constructive feature of the cells of the bees: the bottom of them consists of three rhomboidal planes that meet at one point and have an angle of inclination of 70 ° 32 'through which we obtain the maximum wax economy for the same volume.
- 2.4.- The types of cells
The alveoli of the honeycombs can be classified according to their function:
1 - small cells, the most numerous (90%), are designed to contain the female brood (worker bees) and food supplies; their depth is about 12 mm. and have a width of 5.5 mm
.. The honey contained in a working cell weighs about 380 mg ..
The number of worker cells per square decimeter is roughly the following:
- Apis mellifera ligustica (Italian) 750/800
- Apis mellifera caucasica 850/860
- Apis mellifera carnica 860
- German Apis mellifera 854
- Apis mellifera adonsonii 1000/1050
- Apis indicates 1200/1300
- Apis dorsata 790/800
2 - medium cells, limited in number, are similar to those of workers and are intended to contain the male brood and stocks; their characteristic is a greater greatness and a conspicuous protrusion that appears on the surface of the combs when they contain larvae and nymphs of the drones; their depth is about 13 mm., with a width of 7 mm ..
3 - large cells, with specific characteristics, only present at certain times of the year (spring) or when particular conditions of the colony occur (queen orphan or natural substitution); they are called real cells because their destination is to welcome future queens. Their appearance is similar to that of an acorn with a length ranging between 18 and 26 mm .; when protruding considerably from the honeycomb, they have the opening facing downwards. When they are emergency cells (orphans), they are generally placed in the central part of the combs, while - when it comes to cells programmed for swarming or for the natural replacement of the queen - they are on the edges of the combs; in the beehives of the bee-ligustica, or Italian bee, the large cells are about a dozen.
The real cells are then divided into 3 classes, depending on the cause that drives the bees to breed a new queen and to build, as a result, a real cell:
- real cells of natural swarming;
- real cells of natural substitution;
3. real emergency cells.
- 3.5.- The provision of stocks and broods
The arrangement of honey and pollen stocks within the hive, as well as that of the brood, is not left to chance, but respects a precise order; normally the combs that contain brood cells are placed towards the central area of the nest, while the pollen is normally placed at the edge and immediately close to the brood. Honey, on the other hand, is allocated to the rest of the honeycombs, although it is often also found near the brood.
5.- COLLECTION, TRANSFORMATION AND STORAGE
OF NUTRITIVE SUBSTANCES
- 5.1.- Generalities
The bees provide their livelihood by collecting specific substances in quantities related to the needs of the family. A systematic presentation of the material would require a preliminary description of those substances, but we will deal with this further because we recognize the opportunity to preliminarily make some considerations that tend to focus the activity that the bee-thrower performs to ensure the balanced supply of 'hive.
Those who stop to consider for a moment the frenetic comings and goings that distinguishes an apiary, never imagine that a bee-chipper must make about 40,000 flights to produce one kg. honey. In fact, given that a forager can carry a load of about 60 mg in each flight. of nectar, given that to carry one kilogram must make almost 18,000 flights, observed finally that the nectar has a water content of about 60/70% of its weight, we arrive precisely at the predicted total figure of about 40,000 flights. But our wonder increases if we reflect that the supply of one kilogram of nectar requires that the baker "visits" an incredible number of flowers that, depending on the specific botanical qualities, varies from one million to five million specimens. All this stressful work takes place at a speed of 20/25 Kmh., Which can rise up to 50 Kmh. when weather conditions are favorable and if the path follows a flat terrain. The range of action of a forester extends up to 3/4 km. as the crow flies, while it is interesting to note that the drones go up to 5/6 km during the swarming period. and, according to some researchers, up to 10 km. from the hive.
- 5.2.- The collection and transport of nutrients
Now let's see what is the mechanics of collecting and transporting the substances that are at the base of the hive economy:
Nectar: it is collected by the forager through the ligula with which it sucks the sugary liquid that then settles in the melaria bag; the way in which the operation takes place varies according to the size of the flower, so that if the flower is of modest size, the bee will hold it to the outside, if it is of considerable size it will penetrate it.
During the spoilage the bee offers a further example of the mysterious and admirable organization of the hive; in fact, in order to signal to the other bees that the nectar collection has already been carried out, it emits a odorous substance called "repulsina" which exerts its effect for a certain time on the bobbed flower. When, after harvesting, the baker returns to the hive, regurgitates the nectar to one of his partners, who then repeats the operation with other bees. The nectar is then transformed into honey.
Pollen: collected through the jaws, it is deposited by the front legs in the baskets placed in the hind legs, in charge of transport. The grains of pollen are collected in the baskets and the median legs, in their function of connection between the front and back legs, recover diligently from the thorax and, more, from the ventral region. Returning to the hive, the bee proceeds to inspect several cells to identify the most suitable to receive the loot and in that, placed in any case near the brood, discharge the pollen. The decanting is almost never complete because, despite the foraging, scrupulously trying to get rid of the pollen grains remained entangled in the hairs, it is inevitable that some of them remain on
the body of the bee. It is noteworthy that, according to some researchers, the foragers carry out the simultaneous transport of nectar and pollen.
Water: drawn from a suitable source, which can be represented by a puddle, artificial troughs, water courses, wet ground, etc., is bottled for contingent needs, never stored. The liquid is sucked with the ligule and deposited in the melaria bag for transport.
Propolis: it is taken from the bark or from the buds of some plants through the jaws, to which the intervention of the front legs is often added; through the middle paws it is then placed in the bags placed on the back ones. Before being placed in the basket, the propolis is often lightly kneaded by the jaws.
The operation of unloading the propolis in the hive differs from the pollen discharge; in fact, the spoiler does not free itself of propolis but is helped by another worker; after mixing the propolis together with a bit of wax, the bee deposits it where it is needed.
For the sake of information it is emphasized that, according to some researchers, propolis is the compendium of some transformations made by bees, and not a product in the natural state.
- 5.3.- The physico-chemical characteristics of the individual foods
We have considered until now the phase of stocking of food stocks and propolis; let's see now what are the physical / chemical characteristics of the individual foods:
Nectar: taken from flowers, it is a sugary solution secreted by phanerogam plants; its organoleptic characteristics consist of sweet and fragrance. The nectar is of fundamental importance because it transforms itself after laborious elaboration in honey, essential energy source of the hive, and for this purpose stored in large quantities inside the apiary during the active season. The composition of the nectar, its characteristic aromas and specific properties are not standard, but they vary according to the genus of plants that produce it and, within these, depending on the seasonal trend. The nectar is also influenced by the nature of the soil in which the donor plants are developed, as well as by the prevailing climatic conditions in the area of supply; its average composition is as follows:
- Water: 70/80%
- Various substances: mineral salts, dextrins, gums, phosphoric acid, essential oils, carbonates, to other substances in small quantities.
It should be noted that when we talk about honey generally, honey is not always referred to as nectar honey, but sometimes we also refer to honeys of other origins, such as that coming from the collection of extra floral sugary secretions (vegetable honeydew), and which originates from sugary debris of parasitic insects of some tree species (animal honeydew). However, the aforementioned alternative productions have little importance compared to the production of honey obtained from nectar.
Pollen: formed by microscopic granules placed in the stamen of the flowers is the male seed that, through direct contact, goes to fertilize the female egg placed in the pistil. Unlike the nectar that needs transformation to become food for bees, pollen does not need any elaboration. Transported through the baskets placed in the rear legs of the foragers, it is stored - as it is - near the brood. Great is its importance in the economy of the hive because of its high protein content, so much so that a colony - although provided
with considerable stocks of honey - is depopulated if it lacks pollen. Relevant is its function as a stimulus for the secretion of royal jelly and wax. Observed finally that it comes in the form of small balls variously colored depending on their botanical origin, we give below its composition:
Water - Protein - Amino acids - Sugars - Fats - Trace elements - Vitamins - Enzymes - Antibiotic and bacteriostatic substances
Propolis: it is a resin that bees collect from the buds or bark of some plants; underwent a partial transformation by the bees, it is used for many purposes, among which we mention the one concerning the closing of any cracks in the walls of the nest, the arrangement of the entrance space, the assembly of moving parts. To the cited uses is added the very important one that concerns the embalming of the bodies of antagonistic animals who died in the hive, in order to prevent dangerous decay.
The composition of the propolis, after the transformation undergone by the bees, is as follows:
Resin 50/55% Beeswax 30%
Pollen 5%
Different substances 10% (with prevalence of oils essential and other volatile substances).
The color of the propolis, which varies according to its origin, ranges from light yellow to black.
Water: according to prevailing opinion it is bottled from time to time in relation to contingent needs; in the opinion of some researchers it is stored on the upper cross- pieces of the combs.
The water is suitable for two purposes: one connected to the feeding of the larvae, the other to the air conditioning of the hive. In the first case, water is used to dilute honey and pollen from larval jelly (honey + pollen + water); in the second case, it helps to cool the hive through evaporation, accentuated by the bees by means of ventilation. Finally, it should be noted that the supply of water for the preparation of larval porridge indicates that the hive has a scarcity of fresh nectar, since - if the latter was present in sufficient quantity - its high water content would be sufficient to need.
- 5.4.- Stock storage
Once the description of the stocks and the purpose of their supply has been completed, let us now see how the bees provide to store them in the hive. We will talk about honey shortly, when we describe its transformation from nectar; we have already said about storing water, underlining the difference in opinion; consequently, our attention must now turn only to the conservation of pollen stocks. This is mainly stored in female cells that, never completely filled, are then closed by a thin layer of honey. In this way the perfect conservation of the nutritive power of the pollen is ensured, which - lasting for a long time
- allows breeding of the brood even when there is a shortage or absence of fresh pollen. What happens when the bees, threatened by exceptional events, are forced to leave the hive, or when a swarm is about to divide a family? As we have already observed at other times, the nature of bees is providential, and therefore they - even in the hypothesized cases - provide for group survival by filling the nectar bag of nectar or honey before venturing out of the apiary.
5.5.- The transformation of nectar into honey
We have dealt with some important aspects of the complex activity of the hive so far, describing the phases related to the collection, transport and conservation of food reserves. Lastly we left the description of the phases of transformation of the nectar into honey, because we wanted to give a particular emphasis to a moment that crowns and gives meaning to the indefatigable work carried out by foragers and other workers.
So let's see how the bees, moving from the moment they have supplied the nectar, come to the production of honey and then to its conservation.
We distinguish the aforementioned process in four phases:
Concentration phase: it consists in subtracting from the freshly bottled nectar the part of excess water through a special process called "trofallassi": it consists in the exchange chain of the nectar from one bee to the other, so - thanks to the continuous absorption and consequent regurgitation - a part of the water is eliminated.
Transformation phase: the "invertase" present in the saliva of the bees causes the inversion of the polysaccharides of the nectar in the simple sugars of levulose and fructose.
Maturation phase: honey, produced thanks to the concentration and the inversion of sugars, is stored in the combs, even if it has not yet reached its final stage. In fact its water content, still excessive, is reduced thanks to the ventilation carried out by the bees, to which is added the caloric effect of the interior of the apiary; when the water content in honey reaches a maximum level of 20%, the maturation phase is completed. It should also be noted that some types of honey have more water content, such as e.g. the honey of brugo which contains 22%.
Phase of the clinging: after the ripening phase, the honey must be preserved over time, since - since it is a food supply - its consumption will gradually take place; the bees achieve the purpose by protecting the cells in which the honey is deposited with a thin layer of wax.
During the phases that have been described, and especially during the first two, honey is enriched with various substances, including enzymes and ferments, thanks to which it acquires the well-known therapeutic and alimentary properties.
6.- THE MICROCLIMATE - THE CONSUMPTION OF STOCKS AND THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS OF A FAMILY
- 6.1.- The microclimate
Before seeing how the bees manage to determine a microclimate within the hive we formulate two considerations:
thanks to the microclimate and the storage of the stocks the bees are able to survive in climatic conditions that also record external thermal excursions oscillating from -40 ° C. at + 60 ° C .;
the minimum temperature inside the hive must not be less than 10 ° C., while to allow the development of the vital phases (breeding of the brood, construction of the combs, etc.), the temperature must be around 30/33 ° C. near the brood; this also requires a relative humidity of 40%. It should also be noted that the temperature decreases as you move away from the center of the honeycomb. In summary, the internal temperature of the hive is averaged around the following values:
summer: 35 ° C autumn: 20/25 ° C winter: 15/20 ° C.
Having said this, let's now look at what precautions the bees use to determine the microclimate of the hive through the reduction of high temperatures and the raising of low ones. In the presence of high temperatures the reaction is the following: when the external temperature begins to exceed certain limits and threatens to raise the internal thermal optimum which, as we have seen, is a little higher than 30 ° C, the bees avoid concentrate and expand as much as possible, so much so that a part of the workers goes even to the outside of the hive. If the temperature rises further, the bees resort to ventilation; with very rapid movements of the wings, which can reach even 500 cycles per second, generate a current of air that causes a lowering of the internal temperature, lowering which is accentuated by the evaporation of the specially bottled water and that which is excess in the immature honey. It is also important to keep in mind that the number of ventilators increases in proportion to the increase in temperature, and vice versa. It is known that the metabolism of bees increases with increasing temperature; it follows that when the family heats up, the carbon dioxide (CO2) increases proportionally and the oxygen decreases. Generally the percentage of carbon dioxide is less than 1%; if the increase exceeds 3% there is a considerable increase in ventilation (Free, 1982).
The reaction generated by the low external temperatures is instead the following: the bees are grouped together forming a kind of ball, called "glomere", in whose center it maintains a temperature that is around 30 ° C., While in the external part it oscillates around 10/15 ° C. It is also to be considered that the glomere does not remain immobile but moves like an accordion, contracting when the temperature outside the hive decreases, and expands when it increases. The effect of the contraction put in place when the external temperature decreases, is added the effect of the thoracic microvibrations performed by the bees that in the task, alternate from the peripheral position to the central one, and vice versa. The bees positioned inside the glomere are at the minimum of their metabolism which is determined on the basis of the production of carbon dioxide (117 μg per bee / hour) at + 10 ° C (Free, 1982). As the temperature increases, so does the metabolism of the family which consequently increases its activity.
From accurate research carried out by Prost, it appears that the annual budget expressed in kg. of entry and exit products in a hive is as follows (from Prost, 1981 - partially modified):
Consumption (entry) Production (exit)
Oxygen 30 Carbon dioxide 70
Propolis 0.3 water vapor 120
Nectar and honeydew 240 Honey including internal consumption 45
Pollen 40 Wax 0,5
Water 10 Propolis 0.2
Pollen 34
Breeding bees 20
Dejections 30
Total around 320 Total around 326
- 6.2.- Food consumption and the number of individuals
The energy spent to maintain the optimal temperature inside the hive during the winter obviously entails a greater consumption of food as can be seen in the following table which takes into account the winter consumption of honey of a medium family of bees positioned in zones different:
North area (Canada, Europe, etc.): 35/40 kg. Central Europe area: 20/25 kg.
north Mediterranean area: 15 kg. Mediterranean area: 10/12 kg.
The following table shows the food consumption of a family of bees throughout the year in areas with relatively cold winter temperatures:
honey: 60 kg.
pollen: 40 kg.
water: 20 kg.
Observed that bees do not fall into hibernation, we find that an adult bee consumes about 5 mg. pro-die honey, while a larva, in its life cycle, needs about 100/125 mg. of honey, 70/140 mg. of pollen and 40/60 mg. of water.
It should also be noted that, as previously stated, a family of bees is not composed of a fixed number of individuals, but is formed by a number that varies according to the seasons, so that from 50 to 60,000 workers present in an apiary during the active season (spring / summer / early autumn), it is possible to go down to 10/20 thousand individuals in the winter period also because in the cold season the queen interrupts the laying of the eggs. The maximum decrease of the colony is found right at the beginning of spring, a period in which the bees that die overwhelm those that are born. However, the situation described changes in a short time because, with the beginning of the good season, the extension of the brood determines an inversion of the ratio of deaths / births.
Out of pure curiosity we observe that a single bee reaches a weight of about 100 mg, so a family of 60,000 bees, (how many can be contained in a single hive) reaches a total weight of about 6 kg.
7.- THE COVATA, THE DETERMINISM OF CASTA, THE CYCLE OF LIFE, THE DETERMINISM OF SEX
- 7.1.- The brood and the caste determinism
The extension and development of the brood are in close correlation with the harvesting activity, in particular of the pollen, a correlation that leaves us once again amazed to see the extraordinary faculty of intuition of which the bees are equipped. In adding that the temperature also influences the extension of the brood, let us now look at the various phases and also deal with the subjects that give rise to new lives. First of all, it must be borne in mind that the queen can lay both fertilized eggs, as they usually do, and unfertilised eggs; the former will give rise to worker bees, and exceptionally to queens; the latter, called haploids, will originate the drones for parthenogenesis. At this point a question arises: who decides whether a larva must become a worker or a drone instead of a queen? Extraordinary questioning and extraordinary solution: the answer is in the diet, because that reserved for the larva destined to become queen will be different from that reserved for the larva that is destined to give rise to a worker or a drone. In fact, while in the first three days of life all the larvae are fed with the royal jelly secreted by the hypopharyngeal glands of the suckers, after this term only the queen's larva will continue to receive the same treatment, unlike the larvae of workers or drones they will be fed from the third day onwards with a mixture of water, honey and pollen (larval pappa).
An order of this nature gives rise to what is called caste determinism, which in the specific case is fundamentally of a trophogenic origin, ie due to the different diet. It should be emphasized that the reasons that give rise to the breeding of a new queen are the orphanage of the family, or the replacement of a too old specimen, or finally the preparation for swarming. The choice to raise a new queen is however carried out by the family, not beyond the third day of life of the larvae, by changing the cells of workers in queen cells; this must not take place beyond this time limit because, precisely at the same time, the power is diverted. We must now mention a rather strange phenomenon that would make one think of one of those rare moments when nature shows itself to be improvised and contradictory; so when a family remains an orphan and for various reasons can not raise another queen, some bees (daughter workers) activate the ovaries and begin to lay eggs that, not being fertilized or fertilizable, will only generate drones, so
- after short time - the whole family dies out. This makes us realize the great, irreplaceable function of the queen that can be summarized as follows: egg deposition, cohesion of the family through the emission of the royal pheromone (peculiar to each family), inhibition of the breeding of other queens, impediment of development of ovaries in the workers. The lack of the queen, and the impossibility of raising a new one, generates a situation of real anarchy in which the wonderful balance of the community deteriorates, to produce the serious state of degeneration that gives rise to the development of ovaries in the workers. But, if so far we have exalted the function of the queen, it is now time to take care of the worker bees, who however perform precious functions with untiring vigor.
The workers do not have a moment's respite in the government of the brood and they work with admirable zeal not only to ensure feeding and cleaning, but also to keep it constantly in the right degree of heat that must never move away from 33 ° C., and relative humidity that must remain at 40%. To get a complete picture of the work carried out by the workers, just think that each larva receives over 1000 inspections, which add up to those dedicated to nutrition; a commitment so diligent even intensifies when it comes to care for the real larva that, according to some researchers, can also receive 1200/1600 nutrients based on royal jelly.
7.2.- The life cycle
At this point we shift our attention to the life cycle of bees to consider their evolution and rhythms. It should first be remembered that, as we mentioned at the beginning of this treatise, the honey bee is an oleometabolo insect, a term that indicates that it undergoes a complete metamorphosis that leads from the larva stage to that of adult insect by means of deep morphological and physiological transformations. Observed that this type of development is defined as "indirect", in contrast to the "direct" one, which is typical of mammals, we see in the following mirror the times of metamorphosis of the various subjects of a bee family:
Queen
- egg: 3 days
- larva: "5.5
- nymph: "7.5
- birth: 16th day
- life span: 3/4 years.
Factory Girl
- egg: 3 days
- larva: "6
- nymph: "12
- birth: 21st day
- lifespan: summer 30/40 days, winter 4/6 months
Kelp
- nymph: "14.5
- birth: 24th day
- life span: 30/50 days
If we now want to get an idea of the evolutionary phases that mark the metamorphosis of the bees, let's look at the following sequence:
- 1.egg maturation (3 days);
- 2.egg hatching and birth of the larva;
- 3.succession of larval moles (four) up to complete rolling up;
- 4.cell capping (approximately from the eighth to the ninth day from the deposition);
- 5.the larva (prepupa stage) is positioned longitudinally;
- 6.the larva turns into pupa (or nymph);
- 7.gradual transformation of the pupa with the appearance of the anatomical parts of the insect (head, thorax, abdomen, eyes, antennae, etc.);
- 8.definitive transformation of the pupa into insect adult;
- 9.exit from the cell.
To complete the previous listing, it must be added that to exit the cell the bee provides for itself to break the wax operculum and, as soon as it is released, immediately begins the tasks assigned to it by nature.
- 9.3.- The determinism of sex
Let us now deal with one of the most fascinating and mysterious aspects of the life of bees, which is what refers to the determination of sex.
As we have already seen, the queen can lay fertilized eggs that will give rise to queens or workers, and unfertilized eggs that will give rise to drones (parthenogenesis). Without this clarification, there is still a question: the choice between fertilized eggs and not, must be attributed to a faculty of the queen or, instead, to a sort of balance that flows from the colony as a whole? For completeness of information we report the various theories as ever disagreeing that can be summarized as follows:
in preparing the cells, the workers selectively program the birth of the workers and that of the drones;
when the queen carries out the inspection of the various cells, she receives an inhibitory stimulus from the cells of the drones, and abstains from fertilizing the egg;
the deposition of fertilized eggs by the queen is the rule that offers no exceptions; it is then the bees that remove the seminal fluid from some eggs.
We conclude by observing that most researchers believe that the determinism of sex is the result of a choice made collegially by the whole family, but it is to be considered that the problem, very difficult, will remain unresolved for a long time.
8.- THE BRIDAL FLYING
- 8.1.- The fecundation of the queen
The fertilization of the queen is preceded, in the likeness of what happens in almost all animal species, by a ritual that wants to underline an event of great importance, which is what ensures the conservation of the species. It so happens that a virgin queen aged between 5 and 20 days, limit beyond which she loses the fertility, gives rise to the so- called "wedding flight"; this, carried out up to a height of 15 meters above the ground, wants to be, as well as an invitation to courtship, also a means to select the drones that compete for the company. The suitors who reach the goal are many, generally 8 or 9, but their victory is tinged with drama because the unfortunate drones die immediately after the copulation (according to a theory not yet confirmed it seems that the queen bee, if necessary, can make other couplings outside the hive even in subsequent years). If during the couplings the queen does not fill the spermateca full she can perform other fertilization flights one or two days later (Free, 1982).
We have seen that the nuptial flight is important to select the suitors, but its importance is increased if we consider that the queen's flight - accompanying the emission of particular sexual pheromones - attracts the drones from many parts, so it reduces the risks to a minimum of consanguinity. The arrival of drones has been recorded from considerable distances (260/520 sq km - Free, 1982); the higher the distance of origin the greater the genetic variety will be.
Ultimately, the queen treats the drones with "disdainful detachment", also because the seminal liquid that it enters after mating will be enough to fertilize the eggs throughout its life cycle that can last up to 4 years, during which will not have other contacts with the "unhappy" parteners. To further demonstrate that the drone seems to be for the queen only an instrument necessary for reproduction, and nothing more, we note that the same pheromone that it emits inside the hive, ie in the environment in which it usually coexists with the drones, inhibits the coupling, instead of stimulating it as it happens only and only on the occasion of the nuptial flight.
Finally, it should be noted that real swarms of drones were observed which, on sunny days, sometimes move slowly grouped in spherical form, sometimes rapidly as a comet; it seems that these gatherings, usually observed in hilly or mountainous areas rich in points of reference, have the purpose of exerting a reference to virgin queens.
9.- API ORIENTATION - AGGRESSIVITY
- 9.1.- Orientation
The bees are provided with an extraordinary capacity for orientation that is based on the memorization of the points that are particularly important for them, such as nectarifher sources, water courses, etc. Orientation is mainly based on three supports, of which two sensors and a trigonometric one; the first two are:
the view, by means of which the bees observe both the predominant colors in the objects (eg the hive), and the topographical features of the place to be memorized;
the smell, through which they locate both the smell of the flowers, and that of the possible chemical message left by other companions.
The third support is given by the position of the sun, a reference that is in no way conditioned by the presence of clouds, provided that a small part of the blue sky is visible; this happens because the bees can detect the polarization of the sky and from this they derive the position of the sun (by optical polarization we mean the process by which light behaves differently in the various directions orthogonal to that of propagation).
The German scholar and researcher Karl Von Frisch (1886/1982) demonstrated after a long series of experiments that the sun is at the base of the orientation of the bees that are able to calculate the variations of the angle of incidence of the sun with the horizon . Let's take an example: if, during the morning, a foraging bee identifies a food source at 20
° west of the sun, and if during the afternoon the same source will go to the 30 ° east, the bees have the ability to perform accurately calculations that compensate for changes in the position of the sun. The compensation faculty seems all the more extraordinary if you think that the bees can determine it even if in the interval of hours between the morning and afternoon flights they are locked up in the dark. This shows that bees are able to calculate the orientation not only with direct measurement of the angle of the sun, but also being inside the hive thanks to their amazing "clock" inside.
The three supports now considered are used by the bee to carry out the so-called orientation flight, during which it records all the necessary reference data; so once memorized the point where for ex. its apiary is placed, the bee can leave it quietly because it is able to find it when he returns; for this reason it is absolutely necessary to avoid moving the apiary without due precaution because, if we spread it even just a few meters, the bee remains disoriented, and will not be able to return to its nest. Interesting are the orientation flights carried out by the bees aged between 3 and 17 days of life, with progressively wider circular flights, having the apiary in their center, in order to memorize their position. It seems that these flights are performed by the bees also to free the intestine outside the apiary, which they never do inside, unless they are affected by diarrheal affections. When the bees leave the apiary to free their intestines, they are said to make the "cleansing flight".
We have therefore seen how bees are endowed with sensitive faculties of orientation, but this does not mean that they are not able to find the memorized place, as happens when what is called the phenomenon of drifting occurs. This phenomenon, almost unknown to the state of nature, but frequent in the apiaries, occurs when the foragers, in returning
from the fields, remain disoriented by the wind and fall erroneously into the hive of another family contiguous or too close in the immediate vicinity .
- 9.2.- Aggression
The drift, as we have just seen, causes the involuntary entry of a forager into an apiary adjacent to his; different is the phenomenon of looting. This, quite rare in nature, given the low density of the families existing in a given territory, is frequent in the apiaries, almost always as a result of errors of conduction. It is called looting a voluntary intrusion of bees into an apiary belonging to another family, in order to steal it from the stocks of honey stored in the combs; the form in which it can occur is threefold:
latent looting: the intrusion, carried out furtively, and never in a group, often takes place through a secondary access to the hive and little by little; however, intruders rob large quantities of honey;
episodic looting: violent but of short duration, it is characterized by a very high buzz tone;
violent plunder: similar in nature to the episodic one, it is however more cruel and of longer duration; he often epilogues the destruction of the assaulted colony.
A further notation deserves the subject of intrusions: during the season of swarming, the drones roam within foreign families without being driven out.
At the end of the active season, the workers provide for the expulsion of the drones no longer necessary for the family's economy, but, according to some researchers, it seems that sometimes some kelp manages to winter inside the colony. The process of expulsion of the drones is neither rapid nor sudden, but is preceded by a period in which the workers cease to supply them with food. At the time of expulsion, the workers grab the drones by their paws, trying to move them away, but the males adopt a passive resistance that is so tenacious as to induce the workers to desist from their intent; at that point, however, the drones move away spontaneously from the hive. The expulsion is caused by the decrease of the pasture and coincides, therefore, with the end of the good season, but it can happen sometimes that a sharp decrease of the harvest during the period of normal activity (July-August), push the workers to expel the fuchi abruptly.
At this point it seems to us that, having mentioned some forms of violence exerted by bees, it is opportune to have a more diffuse and more organic discussion on their aggressiveness and on the various forms that it expresses.
First observed that the bees become aggressive towards the intruder only to guarantee the defense of the family, it should be noted that the degree of aggressiveness of the bee is related to its genetic heritage, to its race of belonging, and to its age (the young bees are not very aggressive). Certain African bees possess aggressiveness much higher than that of our ligustica and those of other European breeds (see below). In recent times it has occurred that some swarms of a particularly aggressive African breed, the Apis mellifera adonsonii, accidentally imported in Brazil in 1956, have spread to almost all of South America and have already reached the southern part of the US territory; they are bees that have no merit, being very bad pollinators, extremely aggressive (they are nicknamed api-killer), and unfortunately capable of long migrations that allow them to colonize distant territories in a short time. So numerous were the cases of aggression, even mortal to livestock and people, that US researchers, in an attempt to prevent the spread of such a dangerous race, have developed sophisticated instruments of control and study; among these, a microscopic transmitter with solar batteries that, placed on the back of some
bees gives way to follow the movements to study their eating habits and behavior, data essential to the preparation of a strategy of struggle that has chances of success.
Returning to generally consider the aggressiveness of the bees, it is necessary to remember how fumigations are at present the best means to combat it; in fact, the smoke, causing a state of danger, induces the bees (always consistent with their strong spirit of prevention) to prepare an escape plan and therefore to refrain from honey, which however weighs down and makes them less aggressive. Some recent studies are inclined to argue that the smoke exerts to the bees other effects not yet fully known, such as e.g. that of directly inhibiting aggression, or that of distracting their attention from the smell of those who work, thus preventing the emanation and spread of the alarm pheromone.
Aggression arises in any case in the presence of danger; the alarm is given by the guardian bees through the emission of a special pheromone (alarm pheromone: isopentyl acetate) which places the whole family on the person. The guardians as well as issuing the aforementioned pheromone, are also ready to fight to repel aggression, but if their strength is not sufficient to the need, the other workers who interrupt their occupations temporarily. When a guardian is about to sting an intruder, he often grabs him with his jaws; in this way they secrete another alarm pheromone from their mandibular glands, the 2-heptanone which contributes, although to a lesser extent than the first to act as an alarm. The chemical alarm systems, however, have a short duration and disappear quickly, to avoid that the family remains in a state of alert more than necessary (except in special cases where the alarm pheromones are continuously secreted). In case of drought and period of low harvest in order to reduce the risk of "looting" by bees of other hives (this especially in the modern apiaries where the beehives are positioned next to each other) the guardiania is considerably increased.
It is characteristic of the position taken by the guards when they are on alert: they, leaning on the four hind legs, raise the two front and, by tightening the jaws, protrude the antennas forward. When the danger becomes imminent, the guardians open the jaws, spread their wings and face the enemy.
The indices of aggressive behavior expressed by a family of bees of the "Italian" breed and by an "African" breed (Free, 1982) are reported in a comparative form:
Italian African
- Number of bites on a leather ball suspended in front of the nest entrance 26 64
- Time spent until the first puncture 19 sec. 3sec.
- Time needed to become aggressive 23 sec. 7 sec.
- Distance to which the bees have followed the observer
after having become very aggressive 23 m 170m
- Time needed to return peacefully 149 sec. 1801sec.
10.- COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE BEES - THE SENSES
- 10.1.- General
The bee, we have said several times, is a social insect. The cohesion of the family is ensured also by the means of communication without which the family of bees would lose that peculiarity of "biological unity" which is one of the wonders of nature. The means by which the bees communicate are sensors and chemicals; among the first we include the sight, the touch, the smell and perhaps the hearing, among the latter the pheromones.
- 10.2.- The exchange of food: the trofallassi
Tactile communication takes on particular importance through the trofallassi that is the exchange of food from one worker to another, through which the cohesion of the family is strengthened, especially considering that the exchange takes place so rapidly that it is of interest - in 24 hours round - 60% of the bees that make up the colony. Thanks to the trofallassi the bees are able to evaluate both the quantity of bottled nectar and its quality. During the exchange of food the two bees that implement it are in continuous contact with the antennas; the bee that offers the loot opens the jaws and moves the proboscis, forward and down (Free, 1982). The smell of the head is an extremely important stimulus in determining the exchange of food (Free, 1982).
The phenomenon of trofallassi favors family cohesion as it determines:
- a greater diffusion of particular pheromones;
- a widespread knowledge of the quantity and quality of the bottinato nectar;
- a concentration of the sugars present in the nectar, a very important phase in the process of transformation of the latter into honey.
- an incentive to collect pollen and water.
- - Pheromones
The chemical message associated with the emission of particular odors, called pheromones (or pheromones), is of fundamental importance for communication purposes. The pheromone, produced and secreted, as well as by the queen, also by the workers, by the drones and by the same brood, is the element that determines the cohesion of the family, is the mysterious factor that favors the perfect harmony of an orchestra formed by tens of thousands of orchestras. Its function that is not only stimulating, but in some cases also inhibitory, finds its maximum expression in the pheromone emitted by the queen inside the hive, a pheromone that, articulating in over 32 types, can give rise to numerous combinations, between the real pheromone that determines the cohesion of the family emerges as important. Even the workers emit pheromones of great importance for the economy of the colony, among which we remember what acts as a mutual reference outside the hive during the swarming or in other circumstances, the one that has as its purpose a request for help in case of danger, the tracing one, finally, that tends to signal the position of the sources of booty.
The pheromone emitted by the brood is amazing, both to stimulate pruners to collect nectar and pollen, and to inhibit - according to some researchers - the development of ovaries in the workers. Inside the colony there is therefore a dense intertwining of thousands of messages conveyed by two supports, such as the volatization and contact, which includes the trofallassi. The constant temperature and the absence or lack of air currents would favor the production and diffusion of pheromones (Free, 1982).
Finally, we observe that the scientific study of the pheromones of bees, while keeping for firm the enormous importance of the phenomenon, does not come to unequivocal conclusions. However, we give below a schematic listing of the tasks performed by the main pheromones, without mentioning the complex issues that divide the experts.
Pheromones issued outside the nest
- Queen
Main sexual pheromone: attracts the drones during the nuptial flight.
Secondary sexual pheromones: they perform an accessory function in the phases of the coupling.
Swarming pheromone: keeps the swarm together, both during its formation and during subsequent movements.
- Workers
Booster pheromone: it is emitted, through the Nasanoff gland, at the entrance of the nest to facilitate the orientation of the foragers returning from the fields; it also aims to coordinate the swarm in the phases following the swarming to facilitate entry into the new dwelling.
Pheromone of alarm: it is emitted when the sting hits an alleged enemy; it aims to draw the attention of other guardians.
Tracing pheromones: issued to facilitate the search for sources of loot.
Repulsine: substances that the workers leave on the tumbled flowers to warn their companions, for a limited time, that the flowers have already been bottled.
Pheromones released inside the nest
Royal pheromone: it is the most important and is emitted by the queen both to characterize and to give the whole family a smell and to give it harmony and cohesion. It also has the task of inhibiting the development of ovaries in the workers and preventing the rearing of real cells.
Other pheromones: they are numerous but still not entirely known; they would fulfill the task of stimulating the construction of the combs, as well as the cleaning of the cells, the breeding and the keeping of the brood, the storage and accumulation of honey, pollen, etc. ..
The pheromones released have the dual purpose of stimulating the activity of the foragers and inhibiting at the same time the development of the ovaries in the workers.
The pheromone emitted by the drones is intended to stimulate the work of the workers.
4.4. - The senses
As we have already observed, the relationship that bees entertain with the external world is based on their sensory perception, which supports sight, taste, smell, touch and, according to some, hearing. In order to examine the subject in greater detail, we will discuss the details related to sensitive perception below.
The view: the visual perception of the bees, based on both simple and compound eyes, does not include the full range of colors, nor the multiform shades they give rise to. In fact, in-depth studies conducted first by the German naturalist K. Von Frisch, then by other scholars, have come to the following conclusion: the bees see only white, ultraviolet, yellow, black, blue and, according to some authors , also green. It should also be noted, as a singular anomaly, that bees perceive red as if it were black. In addition to this limited chromatic sensitivity, it seems that the bees have an approximate perception of the geometric figures, so as to confuse, for example, a circle with a square, but this does not diminish the important function that the view plays in the orientation of the bees . Finally, it is interesting to observe that the peculiar anatomical structure of the bees' eyes gives rise to a mosaic vision of the observed objects.
The smell: the odorous perception of bees, allocated in the antennas, takes on great importance as it allows to associate an alimentary source with the peculiar odor it emanates; as regards the orientation, it has been possible to experiment that the bee also benefits from the sense of smell to estimate small distances.
Taste: the taste perception of bees, allocated in the buccal cavity and in the ligula, can be assimilated in principle to that of man, as it is able to distinguish between sweet, sour, salty and bitter . However, it must be emphasized that bees can not perceive certain gustatory differentiations with the same human sensitivity. For example, if a certain percentage of quinine (a very bitter substance) is added to a sugar syrup, the bees do not perceive its presence and continue to drink the syrup without hesitation. As far as it refers to the perception of salt, it has been seen that bees scent sugar syrup if it has been added to salt in excessive quantities. It should also be noted that when the percentage of sugar dissolved in the water is particularly low (for example 3%), the bees do not perceive its presence and consider the solution as pure water (experiments conducted by K. Von Frisch) .
Tact: the tactile perception, which is mainly expressed through the antennas, is very important for the life of the bees' relationship and also represents, as we have repeatedly observed, an instrument that ensures cohesion among the members of the same family; it is in fact to be noted that the bees, while exchanging food (trofallassi), are in continuous contact through the antennas and are also transmitted particular pheromones. The antennas therefore fulfill an important function, both as regards the actual tactile sense, and as regards the perception of humidity, temperature, odors, etc., to the point that, as we have already observed, a bee deprived of the antennas, it loses all relations with the outside world and is destined to perish in a short time.
11.- THE LANGUAGE OF BEES: THE DANCE
- - The circular dance and the dance of the abdomen
If the life of the beehive is a whole interweaving of admirable "ingenuity" of nature, the language of the bees, which expresses itself with the dance, leaves us astonished for the perfection of its laws, as if they were the product of a superior mathematical mind.
So let's see in summary, and simplifying the difficulties of exposure, in which ways the language of bees is expressed.
The bee makes up for the absence of the word with the gesture of the dance that, varying in intensity, frequency, shape or path, is able to provide a precise message: so when a forager picks up a source of collection and wants to make companions remained in the nest, performs a dance from which the bystanders learn with amazing precision the location of the booty, as well as its quantity and its quality. First of all, the bee carries out an orientation flight in order to memorize the location of the food source; then, back in the hive with a sample of food, performs a real dance that takes various cadences depending on the distance of the food source and, as we have already noted, depending on its qualitative and quantitative characteristics. Generally the bee performs a dance that has a circular pattern when the source of the crop is located at a distance of less than one hundred meters from the hive, while performing the dance of the abdomen, which expresses itself with rapid vibrating movements, when the distance is higher. But the specificities of the dance do not stop here, because it also takes place with different intermediate forms, such as a sickle dance, or a zig-zag, etc. that are able to provide further and more precise references to the characteristics of the source of the spoils.
We must then make a notation of great importance: at the moment when the bee performs the circular dance or the abdomen regurgitate at the same time a small amount of booty that, spreading its smell to the neighboring companions, reinforces the meaning of the dance that sometimes , depending on the case, it is also expressed with a series of circles that develop alternately in the clockwise or counterclockwise direction. The companions, as soon as they receive the message from the dancer, do not waste time and make their way to the pasture without delay; a circumstance which leaves us once more amazed, is that the number of the departed will be proportionate both to the duration and to the vivacity and vigor of the dance. We forgot to say that due to the circular dance, which is not intended to signal the position of the booty, but has only to indicate its existence near the hive, the bees who have received the message are dedicated to the search for the source food flying in all directions, but always within 100 meters. When the pasture is more than 100 meters away, the beekeeper performs, as already noted, the dance of the abdomen (the dimenii mentioned in the Maeterlinck), which aims to delimit with more precision the position of the food, indicating direction and distance. Which mechanism is the direction of the loot determined? Once again, the answer given to us by bees is surprising because it implies trigonometric calculations that man learns through rigorous studies on school desks. Here the relationships between the position of the booty and those of the sun and the apiary come into play. So, on the basis of those parameters, the bee indicates with his dance if the booty is in the same position of the sun, or if the food source is in opposition to the sun with respect to the hive, references that are in any case aligned in both cases on a straight line; in the first circumstance the bee will walk the straight stretch of the dance with the head turned towards the upper part of the honeycomb, in the second case with the head turned towards the bottom.
Let's see what happens when the three reference points (apiary, booty, sun) are not all three aligned on a straight line, but are placed in such a way as to delimit an angle formed by two ideal lines that join the apiary in the sun, on the one hand, to booty on the other. In this case, the bee, which we have already defined as a modest and insignificant insect in appearance, performs its own trigonometric calculations and gives rise to the following choreic performance performed on the surface of the honeycomb: it runs the straight stretch with the dance of the abdomen so that this is placed in such a position as to form with the vertical of the honeycomb an angle equal to that determined by the position of the booty and the sun with respect to the apiary. For further clarification it is emphasized that the angle discussed is developed in different senses depending on whether the loot is on the right or left of the sun. In the latter case, the bee, dancing, delimits a corner which, developing in an anti-clockwise direction from the joint apiary / sun, touches the joint apiary / booty; when instead the booty is situated to the right of the sun, the angle traced by the dance moves, in relation to the two mentioned references, in a clockwise direction.
Let us now understand how the bee communicates to the companions the distance that separates the hive from the booty. To achieve this goal, the bee uses two parameters: the rhythm of the dance and the number of times it is performed; if the loot is a little more than a hundred meters away, the bee carries out numerous routes in a straight line with an accentuated rhythm; if the booty is instead placed well over 100 meters, and up to a few kilometers, the straight path will not be carried out more than one or two times, and with a remarkably slow pace.
It should be noted that the use of trigonometric references intended to delimit the position of the booty is necessary when the dance of the abdomen is performed on the honeycomb that is placed vertically inside the hive, but it is not when the choreic message is performed outside the apiary. In this last case the dancer's task is extremely simplified, provided that she has a horizontal support, as can be the entrance step of the apiary; in this case the message is expressed as follows: the dancer follows a straight stretch that, projected beyond the support, directly indicates the direction that leads to the food source.
Similar to what happens in the circular dance, even in the straight one the bees are not informed about the quantity and quality of the pasture thanks to the smell that emanates from the body of the dancer, as well as the sample of food that regurgitates. If instead of a food source, the information concerns a water source that obviously does not smell characteristic, the bee, in addition to dance, uses another message: it emits a particular pheromone secreted by the Nasanoff gland that stimulates the bees in search of the 'water. It should also be remembered that the foragers emit from the tarsal glands a tracing pheromone that creates a real "path" that leads the other bees to the nutritious source.
As the reader will certainly remember we have already observed that, in addition to the circular dance and that of the abdomen, there are other types of dances, called intermediates, tending in any case to indicate the position of the booty; so the zig-zag dance is performed to indicate distances that are around 2/4 meters, and the dance of the scythe that indicates distances around 10 meters.
We can not conclude the speech on the "dance" of the bee without mentioning the so- called "dialects" and "dialogues". It therefore happens that, as man can express himself with different words and expressions according to the dialect he uses, even the bee sometimes gives "dialectal" information, in the sense that the meaning of the dance is not univocal, but it changes considerably from one race to the other. Thus it was noted that the circular dance, if carried out by a race, indicates that the booty is about 40 meters, if carried out by another, it is about 70 meters and another from about 90 meters.
The so-called "dialogues", or "presumed dialogues" as some authors call them, have been object of observation during the swarming. As we will see in the next chapter, it happens that the swarm, just abandoned the hive, is placed in a place, also located a short distance from it, but only provisionally, waiting to identify a place in which it can properly and definitively nest. To reach the intent start many explorers who then come back with conflicting information, as happens in the human consortium when the solution of a problem is entrusted to a study commission. Fortunately, scouts almost always come to an "agreement" and the swarm starts in the direction of the hospitalization identified but, if unfortunately the divergences of the information of the explorers do not arrive at a settlement, the swarm can also immobilize in the temporary position, up to perish.
- - Other types of dances
At this point it is necessary to emphasize that the dances performed by the bee are not limited only to those considered so far, all tending to provide messages related to the distance of the booty, but there are other forms of dances that propose to give information of another kind, as those listed below:
Dance of alarm, tending to collect the guardians and, if necessary, the whole family, to prepare the defense of the hive.
Dance of cleaning, carried out by a worker when she feels the need to be clean thanks to the intervention of a partner.
Dance of joy, indicates that the conditions of the hive are optimal.
Dance of the massage, carried out by the workers who run to the rescue of comrades suffering from specific problems (numbness, paralysis, etc.).
Dance of buzz, linked to the phenomenon of swarming, initially involves only a small nucleus of bees, but this gradually increases until it includes almost the entire colony; its articulation is the following within the hive just before the swarm is produced, perhaps with the intent to provoke it, during the departure of the swarm and during its flight to the point where it stops temporarily; inside the new residence during the stages of accommodation.
13.- THE IMPOLLINATION AND THE FERTILIZATION OF FLOWERS
- 13.1.- Pollination of flowers
The honey bee maintains an exclusive mutual relationship with the flowers from which it is attracted thanks to the wonderful multicolored palette that these make up in the fields. Such a peculiar relationship is known to all, but less known - if not entirely unknown - is the precious work that the bee plays to provoke the pollination of the flowers; however, before seeing how this happens, it is necessary to recall some notions of botany.
Pollination is called the phenomenon that consists of the transfer of male pollen to the female ovule, when it comes to gymnosperms plants, or to the stigma of the pistil, in the case of angiosperms. The act of pollination can occur only with the help of external agents, as the pollen grains do not possess a movement to implement it. The ways in which the phenomenon is explored are manifold and we give here a brief description.
Pollination by wind (anemophile): it is the most widespread; the plant species concerned, with blooms that are usually inconspicuous, pendulous and sensitive to the slightest gust of wind, are provided with a large number of stamens with oscillating anthers, as well as an ovary with hairy and adhesive papillae. The pollen of the species has an adequate structure presenting itself light, dry and abundant.
Pollination by insects (entomophilous): the plants of the species, having the need to attract the attention of insects, achieve the goal in two ways:
with the penetrating smell of flowers combined with their intense coloration;
with the strong seduction exerted by the nectary sugar, favored by the pollinating insects.
The method of pollination is as follows: when the nectar is sucked, the insects cover the body with sticky pollen grains that then unknowingly deposit in the pistil of another flower. Pollination by other animals: we have several cases such as pollination due to snails and snails (malacophilous imp), to certain birds and bats (ornithophilous and chiropterophile). Pollination by water (hydrophilic): water acts as a vehicle, so the plants that use this type of intermediation are generally aquatic. Pollination can occur on the surface, and in this case the flowers have a structure suitable for floating, or can even take place underwater: in both cases the pollen grains are protected by membranes resistant to the action of water.
- 13.2.- Flower fertilization
Let us now turn to the next phase of fertilization, which consists in the fusion of the spermatic nucleus with the oosphere, which is the female reproductive cell of the plants. The main forms of fertilization are two: direct (or self-fertilization or autogamy) and crossed (or heterogamy) which is the one that excels in quantity and quality of the fruits and seeds produced; the former is carried out between flowers of the same plant, the second occurs between flowers of different plants, but always belonging to the same species. The latter type of fertilization is the one implemented by the bee which, according to its custom, always drags the same plant species, until its bloom lasts. It should be noted that the self-fertilization, unlike the crossed one, produces in the long term a weakening of the plants and a poor resistance to diseases. As for the pollination of agricultural crops it is true that other insects outside of the bees also determine it, but it is also true that 60/70% of pollinations are to be referred precisely to the activity of bees;
these occupy a prominent position also in the fertilization of spontaneous phanerogam plants carried out for 50/60% by pollinating insects.
- 13.3.- Bees and fruit-growing
Hence the merits of the bee are great, but they - as often happens - are not enough to protect it from slander. It is true that around the life of the bees there is a flowering of apologetic literature, like that of Maeterlinck which rises to suggestive lyricism, but it is equally true that there exists an absurd campaign of slander according to which the bee is responsible for damage caused to fruit, in general, and to grapes in particular. Nothing could be more false! It confuses the bee that sucks with the ligula, with other insects, such as the wasp, which are provided with a mandibular apparatus designed for a real masticatory function. The denigratory confusion is even more unjust if we consider that the bee sometimes intervenes to repair the damage caused by others, as it does when, by sucking the juice of the grapes attacked by wasps or damaged by hail, it prevents that dripping on other branches of the vine, otherwise condemned to moldy. Here we stop our arrogance in defense of the bee, but we would just like to add a consideration: the accusation directed to bees as fruit harvester comes not only from the "civil party" represented by farmers, but is even supported by some beekeepers, what the wonderful life of the bees did not teach anything.
14.- THE BEES AND THE ENVIRONMENT
- 14.1.- Bees in relations with the environment
As has been observed, both in the introduction and in the following chapters, the natural life of bees has a perhaps unique peculiarity in the insect world; we mean the extension of its habitat, which extends from the equator to the extreme north and south, thus multiplying the problems related to the relationship with the environment. In fact, living in a geographic area that almost entirely covers the planet, the bee is subject to any kind of environmental stress and, to each of them, must give an appropriate response through its natural defenses. Among these the microclimate has fundamental importance, which is a sort of protective shield that the bee places between itself and the climate outside the hive; it should be added in this regard that the resistance opposed by the bee to the stresses of the environment is not the consequence of a selection manipulated by man, as happened, for example, for pets, but is the result of a natural selection in which defense tools have gradually adapted to environmental conditions. If we add to those characteristics that allows the bees to store abundant food stocks in the hive, such as honey and pollen, we understand how a colony can survive in very varied environmental conditions and even in winter temperatures of -40 ° C. Microclimate, natural selection and storage of food are, therefore, important factors in the life of the hive, no doubt sufficient to ensure a tranquil existence, if the bee in the supply of nectar, pollen, propolis and water, not came into contact with an environment seriously altered by human activity.
Of particular importance is the impending pollution associated with a certain senseless agricultural practice that, in making use of particularly toxic herbicides and anticryptogamic agents, subtly attentive to the integrity and life of the bees. One thinks of the risks that these latter run when, in carrying out the cross-pollination, they come across inflorescences treated with those powerful poisons and also think of the damage that comes to agriculture if we take into account that the fertilization of the flowers is ensured for 60-70% from bee activity. What about the acid rain and the pollution of the waters to which the bees draw? And the fallout of atomic radiation (fall-out)? There is no doubt that the set of chemical and nuclear alterations caused by man with extreme unconsciousness, is dangerously received by the anatomical structure of the bee which, harmonized as it is to the laws of nature, is affected by any disturbance of the natural equilibrium .
- 14.2.- The bee insect test of environmental pollution
The bees, through pollination of entomophilous plants, play a major role in favor of agricultural production, but such a function unfortunately implies serious risks for bee families due to the general atmospheric pollution and the use of agricultural pesticides. , used in very dangerous doses for humans and animals. Because of this, the bees become involuntary biological indicators of the degree of chemical pollution of the fields, because they, once they come into contact with the aforementioned poisons, attest with their death the dangerousness of those substances. In the case then, that death does not suddenly occur, an even more dangerous situation is produced because the bee, already intoxicated, transfers the lethal effects of the absorbed poisons to the entire hive. This worrying circumstance is the object of studies aimed at defining, by examining contaminated samples of adult bees, larvae, honey and pollen, real maps of territories divided into areas of high, medium and low danger from chemical pollution or radioactive. The effect on the bees of pollination of GMO products is currently not known.
14.3.- Bees and radiation on the environment
As has just been said, the bee is an excellent biological indicator so that from the analysis of its products (mainly honey and pollen), as well as from the bee itself, it goes back to the presence of a radioactive contamination in the considered environment. The aforementioned analysis, which was previously taken into consideration only for the purposes of radioecology, is nowadays mainly practiced for radioprotection. In fact, the main purpose of today's investigation on the incidence of radiation is to highlight the relationship between the environmental radioactivity and the products of the hive, to verify that honey and pollen are not contaminated by an amount of radionuclides exceeding the permitted range. It is good to underline that the radioactivity of honey is generally lower than that found in bees or pollen; and also to consider that honey, being a product that is not easily deteriorable, can be stored for a long period of time, during which some radioactive elements undergo their natural decay.
The contamination of the plant sphere, and therefore of the honey itself, can occur in two ways: the first occurs when the radionuclides (eg cesium 137) present in the soil are transferred to honey through a particularly complex chain (soil-plant-vegetable). honey); the second occurs when the plant sphere is directly by air (coincidence of flowering with possible environmental releases of radiation); in this case the radioactivity of the floral apparatus will be greater than if it would take radionuclides through the root system (the cycle is shorter: flower-bee-honey) and from this it follows that the relative products, honey and pollen , will have greater radioactivity, compared to the first case.
It should be borne in mind that the radioactive incidence on beehive products is also closely related to the time period between the radioactive releases and the collection from the flowers, as well as the characteristics of the soil and the environment, with atmospheric conditions. (radioactive fallout with windy and rainy weather) and with the distance from the area of origin of the pollution.
It is also necessary to consider that the radioactive risk level of honey is, with the same contamination, considerably lower than that of other products, e.g. milk, if one considers that the amount of honey consumed on average over the course of a day is a few tens of grams, while that of milk can even be around 500 to a thousand grams. In light of the above, it would be useful to prepare a scale of risk related to the amount of honey consumed on average by man in the various time periods, correlating it with other food products in common use.
Finally, in the context of the radioactive contamination of bees, it must be emphasized that the presence of radionuclides is applauded not only in honey and pollen, but also within the hive.
- - Influence exerted on bees by electromagnetic charges present in the environment.
It is known that animal behavior is influenced by the surrounding environment, so bees, like any living being, suffer the effect exerted by variations or environmental pertubations. This interdependence has been extensively studied, but studies are not yet sufficiently developed to discover the influence exerted on bees by the electromagnetic charges present in the environment, both in the form of atmospheric peronations (thunderstorms with lightning) and in the form of propagated electricity. from high voltage pylons and radio / telephone antennas.
However, it seems that the low frequency fields increase the metabolism of the bees, while the high frequency fields have negative effects so as to induce the bees to escape. Many beekeepers have certainly noticed that the bees have the ability to predict the
approach of a storm, to the point that, when the surrounding environment begins to charge electricity due to the approach of an impending storm and already in the distance the roar is heard of thunders, their behavior shows some anomalies that do not appear in the previous hours. Here is a brief description of the effects determined by electromagnetic fields:
- accentuated restlessness of the family and partial disharmony of internal activities;
- drastic reduction in the departure of the foragers in the fields, strong accentuation of the re-entry;
- anomalous protraction of the pollen "discharge" phase;
- irregularity in the laying of the queen's eggs.
The families of bees placed under the high voltage pylons give rise to the anomalous behaviors and also show a rather marked aggressiveness.
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