When I mention I’ve been a beekeeper for the last 14 years, there’s a few questions I am asked quite often. I thought I’d create a post with the questions I’m asked the most, along with their answers, for those curious about honey bees.
Questions I’m asked most often
Q: Why do beekeepers wear white?
A: Beekeepers usually wear white or other light colors since the bees do not associate light colors with threats. Their natural predators are dark (bears and skunks). Also white reflects light instead of absorbing it, allowing beekeepers to stay cooler as they work. Beekeepers often work in hot weather, so this is essential for them to stay comfortable. This post shares why it is important to wear protective clothing when working your bees.
Q: How often do beekeepers get stung?
Beekeepers get stung quite regularly, but their bodies become used to the bee venom and react very mildly to it. It is possible to keep bees and avoid getting stung by wearing full beekeeping protective gear. Here I share why bees sting.
Q: Can you keep bees in a skep?
A: No, bees kept in a skep cannot be inspected. In the United States, all bees must be kept in a hive with removable frames. If you’re thinking about getting bees, check out this post.
Q: Are all bees female?
A: No, there are drones, which are male bees. In a healthy give in the summer, there are about 200 drones present in a hive. Otherwise, the worker bees and the queen are all female. The worker bees ovaries are suppressed by the queen pheromone, and the queen cannot produce wax or care for young, she can only lay eggs.
Q: Do bees die after they sting you?
A: Honey bees die after stinging, because their stinger is barbed. Once it pierces your flesh, it will be lodged there. The bee flies off, ripping out its stinger and the organs attached to it. It will die within a few hours.
Q: Can a queen bee sting?
A: Yes, she can sting. She basically only stings rival queens, and her stinger is not barbed, so she continues to live after she stings. Most beekeepers are never stung by a queen.
Q: Can worker bees lay eggs?
A: Yes, if no queen is present, worker bees can lay eggs. These eggs are not fertilized, so they become drone (male) bees. This is called a laying worker, and is very bad for a colony. For more information about laying workers and how to save your hive, see this article.
Q: How do bees reproduce?
A: Bees reproduce on an individual level, and on a colony level. On the individual level, a virgin queen flies to a drone congregation area, where she mates with up to 25 drones, the more the better, as this twills genetic diversity to the hive. She then flies back to the hive, where she will lay eggs for the rest of her life. She will never mate again after her initial mating flights.
On a colony level, bees reproduce by swarming, to create a new colony. The bees will raise a new queen, then half the bees will fly away with the old queen to start a colony someone else.
Q: How long does a honey bee live for?
A: A honeybee worker lives for about 4-8 weeks in the spring, summer, and fall. In the winter, winter bees live for about six months.
A queen bee can live commonly to 5 years, and up to 7 years. The oldest documented queen bee died when she was 13 years old.
Drones live until they mate with a virgin queen, or until the worker bees remove them from the hive in fall. They don’t want to feed drone bees through the winter. Once they mate with the queen, they lose some of their organs, and fall to the ground and die.
Want to learn more?
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