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There are advantages in labor specialization, community protection, food gathering, nest-site creation and maintenance, disease and pest control and even specialized individuals that serve as undertakers for those that die.Īt the Mother Earth News Fair in Lawrence, Kansas in October I spoke with many beekeepers who have followed the traditional “Langstroth” method of keeping hives and managing them. Consider the benefits of a large ant nest or a well-run human community. This reflects the tremendous efficiency of a large social group. For example, research has shown that four small colonies do not produce as much honey as the same number of bees kept in one hive. There is a powerful numerical effect of keeping large colonies over small. Or, put the maximum number of pollen collectors into the orchard or target crop for pollination services. In the revision of Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping (Caron and Connor, 2013, Wicwas Press) the authors remind the reader that the primary goal of every beekeeper is to maximize the number of bees in a colony at the same time that the colony has the potential to produce the maximum amount of honey. These two behaviors are closely linked with each other (a colony with a low egg-laying rate is not very likely to swarm) and the combination of the two produces remarkable results.
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Through evolution honey bees have refined high reproductive rates by combining their egg-laying rate and repeated swarming behavior. How else can beekeepers who have lost over fifty percent of their colonies take a deep breath and calmly state that they will rebuild their losses, often in one spring buildup season? How else can beekeepers who have 40 colonies predict that they will fill 200 hives with bees within two seasons? Without this numerical reproductive advantage, the bee industry could be in a much more desperate state in light of all the dramatic colony losses that have been reported.
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While there are huge losses reported in survey results indicating that many beekeepers lose many bee colonies every winter (or their local equivalent, such as a nectar dearth), one unique aspect of bee husbandry is this insect’s amazing ability to make a lot of new bees in a short time period. One advantage beekeepers have over those who raise or manage mammals and birds is the tremendous reproductive power of the bee hive.