When we talk about bees, we must know that a fascinating and tiny being has the important task of maintaining the balance of all life. When they carry pollen from flowers on their little feet, they feed thousands of species.
A surprising fact is that this essential mission is carried out in a relatively short period, since the life expectancy of most bees is barely a few weeks, although this depends on their place within the hive.
In a colony of bees lives an organized society where three types of bees are related: the workers, the drones and the queen bee. The first group, that of worker bees, can live between 45 and 50 days. During this period, they will spend their entire lives moving around and collecting pollen and flower nectar with their little feet for the entire hive to feed on.
In contrast, the drones, which are in charge of fertilizing the queen bee, live up to 3 months. While a queen bee, the most important in the hive, can live between 3 and 5 years.
Why does the queen bee live so long?
In each hive there is only one queen bee. Her role is crucial since in addition to being stronger, more powerful and more resistant than the rest, the continuity of the entire hive depends on her. It is this bee that is in charge of «inheriting» its genetic material, laying thousands of larvae. In addition, its body can be distinguished with the naked eye by having a much longer abdomen than the rest.
This is the only bee in the hive that feeds on royal jelly, a substance made by worker bees from the pollen they collect and transform through their hypopharyngeal gland. This is what keeps the queen bee alive and healthy for so long.
Pollen the secret of the life of bees
All this chain is only possible thanks to pollen, a magical and fine dust that contains the reproductive cells of the flowers. Their survival and the proper functioning of the entire hive depend on this vital substance.
From the larvae, which consume a kind of pollen porridge, to the longest-lived bees feed on this fundamental substance that allows them to have a balanced diet based on vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates and water.
The impeccable organization within the hives reminds us that each of the pieces within nature has a fundamental role.
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