During the peek of a regular Honey season, May to September here in Ontario, honeybee hive colony’s population comprises of about 96-99% female worker bees. 

  This period is when floral foraging occurs and is at all possible. Since honeybees rely on floral nectar, therefore they follow the life cycles of flowering plants in the surrounding environment. 

  The balance of a hive population varies throughout a season as does the availability of resources they rely on. This foraging is only done by the female worker bees as their final responsibility at the conclusion of their normal life cycle.

  These female bees from birth to passing, change tasks and take on many different rolls in a healthy hive colony as they age. From hive cleaning, then nurse bees that care for the queen and young larvae, to wax production, and protection guard bees. Their final responsibility in their hive community is that of a forager which they fulfill for about 30+ days.

  Of course these rolls and their duration will vary in duration depending on the needs and hive's health.

   The total number of foraging bees at any time in a hive will also depend on the hives needs and its over all health.  Foraging is the most dangerous and onus task in a female’s bee life since they must venture away from the hive and into the big challenging world filled with many potential life threating hurdles.

  The female bees life cycle is only about 6 – 8 weeks during the foraging season. In the colder months, the winter period, they may live between 3 to 6 months. This is primarily because they don’t have to forage, that’s fly great distances which is very hard on the bee’s life. A honeybee can fly anywhere from 3 to 10km+ from their home hive.

  The male bees, drones as they are known. are primary present in colonies for genetic diversity and colony longevity, breeding, as far as we currently understand. They are a bigger and fatter in size, they don’t sting and have larger eyes that they use to spot virgin queen bees in their mating flights. They live for about 6 – 9 weeks and if the are successful in mating, they die at the conclusion of the transfer of fluids to the queen in mid air. In the colder months, the winter, there are no male drone bees at all. The hive then is only comprised of 100% female bees, all workers and one Queen, no male bees.

  When floral foraging stops in the fall season, pre-winter, all the male bees are encouraged to leave the hive or be killed by their colonies’ worker bees. This is to conserve hive resources during the colder months when there are no floral sources and only that which was collected during warmer months and stored as honey.

  A healthy hive colony only has one queen bee that can lay 1000 to 1800 or more eggs per day. A queen bee can live between 3 to 5 years. If a hive is to lose their queen or if the hive becomes cramped or has little to no space for growth, they can start the process of growing a new queen to replace a absent one or to prepare for hive splitting. 

  This is when a hive propagates to make a new colony, an aspect if successful, is known as hive swarming or swarmed. Approximately half the hive’s population leaves the original hive with the old queen or a new one, to begin a new colony elsewhere. Of course, there are several conditions required to make all this possible.

  Of course, there are several conditions required to make all this possible. This is only a simple explanation. A quick search on the internet regarding a colony’s life and that of bees will help you expand your knowledge and understand so should you choose.

  Welcome to the bee-ginning of the WWB-P, The Wonderful World of Bees and their Plights.