For experienced beekeepers, not only can they judge whether the inside of the colony is normal from the flight of bees outside the beehive, but even catch a bee casually can judge its approximate age. Such beekeepers naturally There is a certain amount of experience.
Bees are highly socialized social insects. As economic insects that people grow in large numbers, bees are not only the main pollinating insects in nature, but also the processors of our favorite honey. The relationship between bees and us humans is closely related, and it can even be said that it affects the survival of human beings.
Due to the highly socialized division of labor, the bees in the colony have different laws of action according to different tasks. Under these divisions of labor, the bees have different life spans under different seasons and different labor burdens, such as in spring and summer. The lifespan of worker bees is usually only about one month, while the lifespan of worker bees in winter can reach more than 180 days.
Of course, as workers in the bee colony, the worker bees are naturally the direct creators of the honey we get, but due to the large number, it is usually difficult to attract the attention of beekeepers. Instead, it is a queen bee with only one bee colony. , Is usually the most concerned about beekeepers, because the queen bee is the only normal childbearer in a bee colony, that is, the queen bee is related to the rise and fall of the entire bee colony, so whether it is a bee researcher or a beekeeper, it is the queen bee It took a lot of time to research on his body, and the queen bee's every move is now arguably the most studied in a bee colony.
The queen bee also has its own way of action. For example, when the queen bee reaches sexual maturity, which is the pre-mating period, experienced beekeepers can see it. Generally speaking, queen bee 5 to 9 days after leaving the house is the most mating time,When the queen bee reaches the mating standard, the queen bee will show two behaviors, which can be seen by experienced beekeepers. These two behaviors are:
① When the genital cavity begins to close
②The abdomen keeps twitching
These two behaviors can naturally be seen by beekeepers, but to say why the queen bee exhibits such behavior, in fact, many beekeepers do not I don’t know, but if we contact the mating process of bees to look at this issue, it’s not difficult for us to think of its intention. It has to be said that these two actions hide a huge conspiracy and directly lead to the death of the drone. Everyone reveals the secret.
The queen bee's "husband selection" process
Now that the two behaviors of the queen bee caused the death of the drone, we must know why the drone died. In fact, if the queen bee is mating, the drone must die as long as it successfully mates with the queen bee.
The queen bee generally reaches sexual maturity 3 days after leaving the house, and then starts a test flight, which is accompanied by a marriage flight during the test flight. Due to the division of labor in the colony, the only role of the drone in the colony is to provide sperm, so the drone is to eat and drink every day and wait in the air for the queen who needs to mate, and will release the sexually mature queen. A pheromone that attracts drones from a long distance. When the drones flying in the air are attracted by this smell, they will chase the queen. Through a large number of drones chasing, finally a large number of drones are eliminated, and the remaining few A drone mates with a queen ,This is the "husband selection" process in the swarm.
The mating process of the queen bee
After the competition process is over, the remaining drones are not only one mating with the queen, but many mating with the queen. The queen stores enough sperm, and then returns to the honeycomb to use the stored sperm for life.
It is worth mentioning that there is a scary process here, that is, . When the drone is mating with the queen, the tail of the queen will jam the reproductive organs of the drone after mating, and then the queen drone. Fall to the ground and die. The next drone pulls out the internal organs of the previous drone during the chase and continues to mate, until the last drone has mated with the queen . In this process, it is obvious that in this case, as long as the queen mates with the queen, the drone will eventually die.
This is the mating process of queen bees. Imagine that it is not only difficult, but also risky.
2 conspiracies
Regarding the two behaviors of queen bees after sexual maturity, many people may be puzzled in the past, but combined with the mating process we mentioned above, these two conspiracies are indeed dedicated to drones. Let’s take a look at each of the death designs.
①Opening and closing of the genital cavity: Obviously, this behavior is to jam the reproductive organs of the drone so that the drone cannot break free, and then the reproductive organs and part of the internal organs are pulled off.This may seem like a meaningless process, but in fact it is also very meaningful, for the reasons we will talk about below.
②The twitching of the abdomen: Regarding the twitching problem of the abdomen, there is actually a purpose, which is mainly related to the genital structure of the drone. The reproductive organs of drones are not like other animals, they are like a fleshy ball, while the outside of the queen bee's reproductive cavity is a hard chitin structure.
So to complete the mating process, as long as the queen bee does not take the initiative, even if the drone has the ability to win the sky, it will not help. After all, the structure is there, so it seems that the drone "chase" the queen bee. The queen bee takes the initiative, and this process is to be completed. The queen bee must keep the genital cavity open when the last few drones remain. Then the problem arises.
If the reproductive cavity of the queen bee is opened for a long time, the drone will not die naturally, but there is a problem with storing the sperm of the drone. If you are interested, you can grab a few sexually mature drones and press the abdomen to see the sperm of the drone. It is a yellow liquid. Since it is a liquid, it will flow. Therefore, if the queen bee keeps the genital cavity open for a long time, it will not achieve the purpose of storing sperm. Therefore, after each drone and the virgin are mated, the virgin The king always clamped off the genitals of the drone to allow the sperm to be stored, and twitched his abdomen to speed up the "digestion" of the sperm of the drone.
This is why the queen bee exhibits these two behaviors before mating. Going back to the above question, this process seems cruel and consumes a lot of drones. The drones here are not only the death of mating, but also a lot of drones to die during the chasing process. Then this evolution method is not conducive to the colony. Development? In fact, on the contrary, because of the division and cooperation of the colony, the drones do not participate in other tasks except for mating tasks.The queen bee mating is completed without the need for drones, so in principle, as long as the queen bee mating is completed, the less the bee colony, the less the pressure, so this is not only an unscientific way of evolution, but also a scientific arrangement. What do you think? Talk about it.
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