B is for .....
If you see a bee in the wild, you will likely think that it is part of a colony, collecting nectar and pollen to be made into honey in the hive. You may be right in some cases especially if you are near a hive. The bee could also be totally mystified as to the concept of a hive, honey or colony.
There are solitary bees which from their name do not live in colonies. Some of the solitary bees do live in a small group but in those case, they do not build hives. Since these bees do not have hives or even other members, they do not produce honey. For the uninitiated, a worker bee will collect nectar and return to the hive. It will then vomit (Regurgitate for those who want to continue liking honey) the nectar for another worker bee to process. When the mixture is completely processed, the second worker bee will then regurgitate the output into a honeycomb and fan it to remove the water content. As one can tell from the labour intensive process of making honey, it is not possible to make honey if you are an individual or in a small group.
On the other hand, some solitary bees are intimately familiar with the concept of honey, colony and hives. These solitary bees are brood parasite which means that their young are taken care by other bees. These brood parasites have two methods of smuggling their young into the hive. One species lays its young outside the hive for some worker bee to helpfully moving its young into the hive. The other species cuts out the middleman by invading the hive, killing the queen and then laying its young.
On a side note, when we think of honey, we often think of nectar from flowers as a raw material. The truth is that the bees are less discriminating than we think. They are perfectly willing to visit drink stalls, soda dispensing machines and other manmade sources of sugary solution. There was an interesting story about how bees made some blue and green coloured honey. It turned out that the raw material was some coloured M&M candy shells waste. It is also known that some beekeepers use glucose solution to feed their bees.
The point to note is that one must be careful of stereotypes. The truth is that when it comes to life, it pays to have an open mind.
There are solitary bees which from their name do not live in colonies. Some of the solitary bees do live in a small group but in those case, they do not build hives. Since these bees do not have hives or even other members, they do not produce honey. For the uninitiated, a worker bee will collect nectar and return to the hive. It will then vomit (Regurgitate for those who want to continue liking honey) the nectar for another worker bee to process. When the mixture is completely processed, the second worker bee will then regurgitate the output into a honeycomb and fan it to remove the water content. As one can tell from the labour intensive process of making honey, it is not possible to make honey if you are an individual or in a small group.
On the other hand, some solitary bees are intimately familiar with the concept of honey, colony and hives. These solitary bees are brood parasite which means that their young are taken care by other bees. These brood parasites have two methods of smuggling their young into the hive. One species lays its young outside the hive for some worker bee to helpfully moving its young into the hive. The other species cuts out the middleman by invading the hive, killing the queen and then laying its young.
On a side note, when we think of honey, we often think of nectar from flowers as a raw material. The truth is that the bees are less discriminating than we think. They are perfectly willing to visit drink stalls, soda dispensing machines and other manmade sources of sugary solution. There was an interesting story about how bees made some blue and green coloured honey. It turned out that the raw material was some coloured M&M candy shells waste. It is also known that some beekeepers use glucose solution to feed their bees.
The point to note is that one must be careful of stereotypes. The truth is that when it comes to life, it pays to have an open mind.
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