Honey bees secret world of heat revealed

The Telegraph UK ^ | 13 Mar 2010 | Richard Gray, Science Correspondent

[fishhound]

The secret of honey bees' success has been discovered living deep inside their hives - a special type of bee which acts like a living radiator, warming the nest and controlling the colony's complex social structure.

The "heater bees" have been found to play a crucial, and previously unappreciated, role in the survival of honey bee colonies.

Using new technology that allows sceintists to see the temperature inside the bee hives, researchers have been able to see how heater bees use their own bodies to provide a unique form of central heating within a hive.

They have found that these specialised bees, whose body temperatures are considerably higher than other bees in the colony, not only keep the hive warm but also control the social make-up within a colony.

Bees, and other social insects such as ants, share jobs within a colony so each individual has specific role that benefits the colony as a whole.

[gleeaikin]

I think they don’t cook themselves because they don’t fan their muscles when heat is not needed. The article said they have a way of decoupling their wings so they can fan the muscles a lot without moving the wings.

[Isabel C.]

God makes cool stuff!

God is cool too!

[freeangel]

” For Freeper Beekeepers”

I have a co-worker who started a few weeks ago.

[freeangel]

” For Freeper Beekeepers”

I have a co-worker who started a few weeks ago.

[Right Wing Assault]

OK, so are heater bees born or are they assigned the job? If they are born, what causes that? Do their pupae have to be kept at a particular temperature? Do they have to get the food for the extra energy themselves or do other bees deliver it to them? Etc.

Maybe these answers aren’t known yet, but reporters are good at not asking probing science questions.

Each bee in the hive needs a miniature TV camera attached to its head to we can see what is going on in there.

And, I hate to do this, but will global warming make all of the bees into foragers and then there would be no more housekeepers to take care of the larvae and clean the nest? Or will the government take care of that job for them?

[Scotsman will be Free]

Wait until algore reads this.

[SunkenCiv]

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[SunkenCiv]

Whoops! Thanks GeronL, thought I saw everyone’s pings! [blush]

[bert]

The fact that some bees have a higher temperature than others is very old news. It is in fact common knowledge

In the winter when the colony is inactive:

The bees at the center of the cluster are warmer than those on the outside. As the temperature of those on the outside gets too cold, the warm bees move outward. The bee temp from the center of the cluster to the outside is continuously variable.

Honey is the fuel that provides the body temp

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

Doing the jobs drones won’t do.

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

For Freeper Beekeepers...we have a few. Wasn't sure where to post it.

Ya done good!

Anybody want to learn? Start here: www.beemaster.com

[JustPiper]

Maybe this will help clear up why the bees were disappearing

[SunkenCiv]

Maybe they were just too hot. :’) Handy wild bees:

http://gardening.wsu.edu/library/inse006/inse006.htm

[skr]

He is, indeed. : )

[rickomatic]

I too thought of colony collapse disorder, but my thought was that perhaps breeders have been breeding for queens who would not leave enough empty cells for the heater bees to do their job. If one HB in an empty cell can warm 70 larvae, then about one empty cell per 70 would appear to be essential. Have you counted the empty cells in your combs? Did you get your bees from a large commercial enterprise where selective breeding may be a problem, or did you get them from a local hobbiest or a wild swarm? Also do you just feed them sugar water, or do you leave enough honey for them to eat?

Right now, after the die off, all the cells in the brood box are empty, except for a few small areas of honey at the corners. There was little dead brood in there. Mostly just dead or gone. I did get them from a commercial package supplier, so the genetics thing could factor in. As for feeding. I am leaning towards the possibility that I might have starved them. They had quite a bit of honey going into winter. I even left them a few extra frames of honey in a super above the two deeps. I did, however fail to feed them in the fall. I think I may have assumed the honey that was present was enough. I will pay closer attention this year to fall honey stocks, and try to estimate the weight. It's all been a learning experience, which is good. I just hate to have probably had a hand in their die off.

[reagan_fanatic]

Heater bees - global warming!! Oh Noes!!1!!

[Larry Lucido]

Is she a do-bee or a don’t bee?

[Squawk 8888]

It will be interesting to see if this new discovery will be looked at in regards to colony collapse disorder, which up to now, is not understood.

That wouldn't surprise me. The theory presented in the article is that empty cells in the comb are needed for the heater bees to do their thing, but breeders have been selecting for queens that don't leave empty cells. Perhaps the pupae were too cold and not enough foragers emerged?

[colorado tanker]

Oh, baby, am I gonna heat you up!

[SunkenCiv]

They’re gonna get a buzz on.