Attention all moms. How will you celebrate Mother’s Day this year? Have you gotten flowers, chocolates, or a gift card for brunch yet? If not, don’t despair. Today we have a blog, just for you moms, in honor of Mother’s Day.
Wikipedia defines “Mother” as “women who inhabit or perform the role of bearing some relation to their children, who may or may not be their biological offspring.” As humans, we all know what it means to be a mother. But what does motherhood mean when it comes to a bee colony?
When one thinks of Motherhood inside a beehive, people often assume the Queen Bee is the mother of the hive. But is that really true? Yes the queen is the one who lays the eggs. It is her DNA that passes to the offspring, which eventually become the members of the hive. But that is where her duties as a Mother petty much end.
You see, a Queen Bee doesn’t have time to raise her “children”. She is an egg laying machine and spends all of her time devoted to doing just that. For more info on the Queen Bee check out this earlier blog.
So who actually raises, feeds, and protects the “babies” or brood of the hive? It’s an interesting question, because it’s impossible to really pinpoint one particular member of the hive that could be considered the “true” mother. In reality, it is the entire colony (minus the Drones) that “Mother” the colony.
So lets break down who in the colony does what:
The Queen: She is the biological mother. She lays the eggs, and that’s all folks! Raising the baby is in the hands of the Workers
The Drone Bee: The drones are the only members of the colony that would not be considered mothers. We’ll probably talk about the Drone Bee on Fathers’ Day…or you can check out this earlier blog.
The Worker Bees: All worker bees are female. All worker bees have different duties when it comes to the raising, feeding, and the protection of the brood. Let’s break ’em down:
Nurser Bees: These are the youngest bees in the colony. They are responsible for cleaning hatching bees with their proboscis. They also keep the hive clean by removing debris.
Forager Bees: These ladies bring home the bacon (well, actually the pollen). Without the Foragers, the hive would starve and so would the brood.
Guard Bees: These bees are usually the eldest of the worker bees. They are all about the protection of the hive. What is interesting is that the Guard bees are at their most defensive when the brood comb is threatened.
So as you can see, the responsibility of Motherhood falls on all the ladies of the hive. They are united in their mission to ensure the survival of the colony. By using a social system with a sophisticated division of labor, bees work together to raise their young and ensure the survival of the species.
Interested in checking out a cool clip of some brood comb? Check out the clip below:
