Species, Habits and Division of Labor of Bees

The generic term for HYMENOPTERA, Insecta. Italian bees and oriental bees are the main species, which are valuable for honey production and widely raised. Bees, whose chest backboard is less than the wing base, have branched or feathered bodies, and their hind feet are usually used for collecting pollen. Adults are covered with villi, and there are pollen collecting organs composed of long hairs on their feet or abdomen. Chewing and sucking mouthparts are unique characteristics of insects. Totally perverted. About 15000 species are known all over the world, and about 1000 species are known in China. Many kinds of products or behaviors are closely related to medicine (such as honey and royal jelly), agriculture (such as crop pollination) and industry (such as beeswax and propolis). They are called resource insects.

There are about 20,000 species of HYMENOPTERA Apocrita insects, including the well-known bees (1230 Apis) and bumblebees (1230 Bombus) and (Psithyrus), and thousands of species of bees similar to wasps and flies. Adult bees are about 2 mm long? 4 cm (about 0.08? 1.6 inch).

Bees are closely related to some kinds of wasps. The main biological difference between them is that bees (except parasitic bees) feed their young bees with a mixture of pollen and nectar, while wasps feed their young bees with animal food or insects and spiders. In addition to the differences in food preferences, there are also some structural differences. The most basic difference is that wasps are covered with unbranched hair, while bees have at least some branched or feathery hair, and pollen usually adheres to it.

Bees feed entirely on flowers, including pollen and nectar, which are sometimes made into honey for storage. There is no doubt that bees are pollinating it as well as collecting pollen. When bees collect pollen between flowers, they will drop some pollen on the flowers. These fallen pollen are very important because it often causes cross-pollination of plants. The actual value of bees as pollinators is greater than the value of making honey and beeswax.

Drones usually have a short life, do not collect pollen, and are not responsible for feeding young bees. Female bees are responsible for all the work of nesting and storing food, and usually have special structures to carry pollen. Most bees collect pollen from many kinds of flowers. However, some bees only collect pollen from flowers of certain families, some bees only collect pollen from flowers of certain colors, and some bees only collect pollen from flowers that are related to each other. Bee's mouth is a tool for collecting and carrying pollen, which seems to be able to adapt to different kinds of flowers.

Most bees of Apiidae live alone or are not gregarious. If they don't live together, each female builds her own nest (usually in underground caves) and stores food. This kind of bee has no hierarchy. Some solitary bees build chimneys or horns at the nest mouth, while others build nests on trees or twigs and bamboo. Most adult bees living alone don't live long. Some kinds of adult bees only fly for a few weeks a year, and the rest of the time stay in the nest room in the form of eggs, larvae, pupae and young bees.

Solitary bees provide all the food needed for the full development of larvae when they are sealed. Social bees, such as bumblebees and bees, gradually feed their larvae. The life circle of social insects, refer to the articles of bumblebees and bees.

Apiioidea * * * has 8 families: 1. Colletidae is a primitive group, similar to wasp, with 5 or 6 subfamilies, about 45 genera and 3000 species; 2. Anniidae, a medium-sized solitary ground flower bee, includes some parasitic species; 3. Honeybees (ground bees or burrowing bees), some species are attracted by sweat, so they are also called sweat bees. The most famous sweat bee is Dialictus zephyrus4.Oxaeidaceae is a large fast-flying bee, and its structure is similar to Anthuridae. 5. Bee family, a transitional bee between lower and higher levels; 6. Agonidae is famous for its exquisite nesting structure; 7. Formicidae (including carpenter bees and cuckoo bees), with three subfamilies, was once considered as a subfamily of Formicidae; 8. Umbelliferae, including bumblebees, ground-digging bees or ground-flower bees.

The so-called "killer bees" is a cross between African bees and European bee subspecies. This Afro-honeybee subspecies escaped from the north accidentally in 1957 when a prolific hybrid bee adapted to tropical climate was cultivated in Brazil. This kind of bee can fly about 320 times a year. 480 kilometers (200? 300 miles), 1980 flies to Mexico, 1990 flies to Texas. Today, it is widely distributed in most parts of the southwestern United States, including southern California, southern Nevada and all parts of Arizona. In addition, more and more africanized bees have been found in Florida. They are believed to have caused hundreds of deaths. This africanized bee is smaller than the European species and has little pollination effect on plants. Although the toxicity is not strong, it reacts quickly to the threat of habitat, and it takes a long time to recover. 1, APIs (MICRAPIS) and niformis Smith, 1858.

Alias: Little Bee. Distribution: China is located in Jinghong and Mengla of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and Cangyuan and Gengma of Lincang area. Foreign countries are distributed in South Asia and Southeast Asia.

2. Bees, 1787.

Alias: grass bee. Distribution: China is located at latitude 26? 40' south, below 1900m above sea level, Longzhou, Baise, Shangsi and other places in southern Guangxi; Foreign countries are located in northern Oman and South and Southeast Asia to the east of Iran.

3. API (millions of units) Labiosa Smith, 187 1.

Alias: Rock Bee, Himalayan Bee, Snow Mountain Bee. Distribution: China is located in the southern foothills of Himalayas, southern Tibet, Nujiang, Jiaocang, Jinshajiang and Honghe basins of Hengduan Mountains in Yunnan. Foreign countries are distributed in Nepal, Bhutan, northern India, northern Myanmar and northern Vietnam.

4. Many-backed bees, 1793.

Alias: Bai Feng, (Dai name). Distribution: China is distributed in southern Yunnan, southwestern Guangxi and Hainan Island; Foreign countries are distributed in South Asia and Southeast Asia.

5. Apis (Shima Tapiz), Nikobuyut-Ripon, Koshev, 1906.

Alias: Red Bee

Distribution: only distributed in Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei in the north, and Isle of Man in Indonesia in the south.

6. African bee (Shamatapi) Murunstingek, Niger River and Niger River, 1998.

Distribution: Only found in Mount Lunu, Sabah, Malaysia.

7. Apis (Shima Tapiz), Niro Hinta, Smith, 187 1.

Distribution: Indonesia and Sulawesi Islands in the Philippines.

Huma bees, Apis cerana, 1793.

Distribution: Asia includes China, Japan, Korea, Russian Far East, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, East Timor, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and other countries, living in temperate, subtropical and tropical regions.

9. Italian bees, 1758.

Distribution: Native to Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Due to European immigrants and business contacts, it was introduced to all parts of the world and became the main bee species.