The bee that man keeps for honey is the smaller honey bee or Apis. There are different species of Apis, all with similar habits. A honey bee colony, consists of three types or castes of bees. These are: the queen, drones and workers.

The Queen

The queen is the fertile egg laying female. The queen is nearly twice as large as the worker bee. Usually there is a single queen in a hive.

• The queen mate with several male bees (drones) and will remain fertile for life.
• The queen lays thousands of eggs.
• Fertilized eggs develop into females (worker bees) and queen.
• Unfertilized eggs develop into males (Drones).
• The type of food provided for female larva determines whether they will become queen or workers. This food is called royal jelly.
• The queen secretes powerful pheromones within the nest that control the behavior of the workers at different stages of their development. This maintain the identity and social structure of the colony.

The Worker Bees

The workers are sterile females working on behalf of themselves and of the fertile members of the community. Workers are smaller than the queen or drones.

• Worker bees collect food for the colony. Also, they care for the young.
• They defend the hive from enemies.
• The worker bees have a clear division of labor depending upon their age.

The Drones

The drones are males. Their duty is to fertilize the queen.

• The male bees are kept on standby during the summer for mating with virgin queen.
• Drone has a barbed sex organ, mating is follows death of the drone.
• Drone doesn’t have a stinger. They have no use in the winter and expelled from the hive in the autumn.

Termites

Another group of social insects are the termites, or “white ants”. They are not ants, but belong to a completely different insect group. Ants have a life history of complete metamorphosis, whereas, termites have an incomplete metamorphosis.

Termites live in nests, some underground, while others build the wrongly called “termite hills” which can reach heights of 8 - 10 feet, or more. These hard hills are made from particles of soil cemented together by the saliva of termites.

Different castes of termites live in the colony. The caste system consists of reproductive and sterile individuals.