Basics of beekeeping, colony biology, and industry economics

The role of beekeeping in crop production and the industry's economy

Beekeeping directly influences the yield of entomophilous crops by ensuring their quality cross-pollination. In addition, the industry provides valuable raw materials: honey, flower pollen, propolis, royal jelly, bee venom, and beeswax, which are in demand in many spheres — from medicine to aviation. There are more than 50 million bee colonies worldwide, and the number of beekeepers reaches 7 million. For domestic producers, the key task is the modernization of apiaries, which will allow for extending the nectar collection period and expanding the product assortment.

Over the last 15 years in Russia, the number of bee colonies has decreased by almost half, triggering an influx of imported honey in modern packaging. Restoring the industry requires an understanding of the global market and the biological characteristics of bees. Data on the distribution of bee colonies and honey production volumes in the world are presented in the table.

Biological structure and functions of a bee colony

A bee colony consists of one queen, several tens of thousands of workers, and drones. The queen is the only fully developed female with mature reproductive organs, having a slender body 20–25 mm long and a mass of 180–250 mg or more. She lays 1500–2000 (sometimes up to 3000) eggs per day: fertilized eggs develop into worker bees and queens, while unfertilized eggs develop into male drones. A young queen emerges from the cell, makes orientation flights on the 3rd day, performs mating flights for copulation on the 6th day, and begins egg-laying 2–4 days after mating.

Worker bees are sterile females 12–14 mm long with an average mass of 100 mg. The total mass of bees in a hive fluctuates by season: in spring, it is up to 2 kg, in summer it increases to 6–10 kg, and in autumn it decreases to about 3 kg (1 kg contains about 10 thousand individuals). In summer, due to wing wear during foraging, they live only 35–40 days, while in winter they live up to 200 days. Without a load, a bee flies at a speed of 65 km/h, and with a load, 20–30 km/h. The flight range for foraging can reach 3–4 km.

The behavior and duties of bees are determined by their age. Young individuals work inside the hive: they clean the nest, care for larvae, and at two weeks of age move on to comb building and receiving nectar from foragers. About 70% of older flying bees fly out exclusively for nectar, while the rest collect pollen in the form of pellets or water. In the event of the queen's death, some worker bees can become laying workers and begin laying unfertilized eggs. Drones develop only for mating and perform no other work in the nest.

• Queen development period — 16 days
• Worker bee development period — 21 days
• Optimal distance for foraging — no more than 2 km
• Mass of nectar in the honey stomach — 40–45 mg
• Number of trips per day — 10–12

The body of a drone is broad, clumsy, with a thick abdomen; the head is large, with large compound eyes. The length of a drone is 15–17 mm, mass is about 200–250 mg depending on the cultivar. Wings are well developed, but there is no stinging apparatus, wax glands, or pollen baskets on the legs, as drones do not perform any work either in the nest or in the field.

Drones live for two to three spring-summer months.

Task 2. Study the external structure of a worker bee.

Task 3. Describe the structural features of a worker bee, a queen, and a drone.

Figure 2.1 – Queen Figure 2.2 – Worker bee Figure 2.3 – Drone

Task 4. Describe the sequence of work during honey extraction. 1) Preparation of the premises

Task 5. Master the requirements of the honey quality standard.

Table 1 – Characteristics of honey quality according to GOST 19792 – 2001

Indicator except for honey Honey from white

Pleasant, from weak to strong, delicate,

Taste Sweet, pleasant, without foreign aftertaste

Presence Presence Presence of pollen grains Not regulated pollen grains pollen grains white acacia cotton Mass fraction of water, % 21 21 19 Mass fraction of reducing sugars 82 76 86 in %, not less Mass fraction of sucrose

6 10 5 in %, not more Diastase number

7 5 7 not less Hydroxymethylfurfural

25 25 25 mg/kg, not more Qualitative reaction

Negative for hydroxymethylfurfural Mechanical impurities Not allowed Signs of fermentation Not allowed Mass fraction of tin, % 0.01 0.01 0.01

4.0 4.0 4.0 not more than

Task 6. Describe general veterinary and sanitary measures at apiaries: Apiary placement

Task 7. Get acquainted with plants that are poisonous or harmful to bees.

Alpine buttercup Creeping buttercup Marsh spurge

Wood anemone Sweet bay Common camellia

Student's date and signature Instructor's date and signature

Figure 1 – Cow of Holstein dairy breed

Figure 2 – Bull of beef type of Russian Polled breed

Figure 3 – Hybrid gilt of meat type

Figure 4 – Sheep of wool type of Manych Merino breed

Figure 5 – Rooster of Kuchin breed of meat-egg type

Figure 6 – Stallion of riding breed of dark-bay color

Figure 7 – Russian goat breed of dairy type

Figure 9 – Cow of Ayrshire dairy breed

Figure 10 – Cow of Charolais beef breed

Reference information on evaluation of sire bulls

Figure 11 – Boar of Belarusian Black-Pied breed of lard type

Figure 13 – Hen and rooster of egg production type – Leghorn breed

Figure 14 – Hen and rooster of meat production type, Cornish breed

Figure 15 – Ram of wool type, fine-wooled Soviet Merino breed

Figure 16 – Ram of meat-wool type – Lincoln breed, Kuban factory type

Figure 17 – Ram of meat type, semi-fine-wooled breed –

Figure 18 – Ewe of dairy type – East Friesian breed

Figure 19 – Ram of meat-wool-dairy type –

Figure 20 – Sheep of meat-lard type –

Figure 22 – Horses of Orlov Trotter breed

Figure 23 – Stallion of heavy draft type – Russian Heavy Draft breed

Figure 24 – Stallion of draft type – Don breed

Figure 25 – Productive horses, Yakut breed

Figure 1 – Plastic tags for marking livestock animals

Figure 2 – Pliers and numbers for tattooing

Figure 3 – Pliers for marking by ear notching

Figure 5 – Electronic tags for marking livestock animals

Figure 3 – Change in crude fiber content during haylage harvesting

Figure 4 – Cross-section of a silage stack when laid in piles

Figure 5 – Sealing with film over the entire surface

Figure 6 – Compaction using heavy wheel tractors

Alpine buttercup Creeping buttercup Marsh spurge

Wood anemone Sweet bay Common camellia

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