What do bees eat? Are they herbivorous insects?
Bee nutrition is influenced by various factors
As we all know, bees are basically herbivorous animals since these insects derive nourishment from nectar and pollen of plants and flowers. This argument, however, has various facets. Bees produce different substances including honey and royal jelly.
Depending on the age and the role that a bee plays in the hive, the type of nourishment can vary. By this we mean that, for example, a queen bee or a larva present in royal cells, will get better food than that of all the other bees.
Obviously, there is a scientific explanation for this that demonstrates how better food gives life to more developed specimens, such as the case of queen bees.
Let's analyze the topic together trying to understand what bees eat in particular, from which plants they take nectar and how the queen gets "delicious food" compared to the rest of the swarm.
Nectar and pollen from plants and flowers
Nectar and pollen are the main sources of nutrition for our beloved bees. Regarding this topic, there have been numerous interventions that have specified how the decrease in plant species from which the bees take pollen , are slowly decreasing.
The reduction of some species of "bee-friendly plants" has caused a strong weakening of the swarms that have had to fight against the scarcity of food available.
Bees are herbivorous animals. Their nourishment comes exclusively from plant species. In fact, bees never feed on other insects or the carcasses of other animals. Their diet can be defined as vegan.
When we are outdoors and we notice striped insects approaching our plate, they are almost always wasps which are instead a carnivorous species .
Bees collect pollen from many different plants including: Facelia, Calendula, Vetch, Lupinella, Clover, Coriander, Cumin, Fennel, Parsnip, Dill, Borage, Rosemary, Thyme, Lavender, Sulla, Sunflower, Mallow and many other species.
How do bees make honey?
Bee survival is all about collecting pollen and nectar. The foraging bees need a lot of energy to carry out this continuous and constant work. From the collected substances the bees produce food to feed the swarm but also use them to produce the wax that makes up the cells.
As mentioned, every bee needs a lot of energy. The composition of the nectar sees within it substances such as sucrose, glucose, fructose which function as "fuel" for the bees' body.
The nectar is also rich in water. With regard to the latter element, the substance is processed for a long time so that all the water inside it evaporates.
Eliminating excess water allows bees to generate honey, which is able to preserve itself while avoiding the proliferation of molds or bacteria. To evaporate the water, the bees apply a procedure called "ventilation."
Bees are the only animal species to produce edible food for humans. In fact, honey is a very popular food for us human beings. The production of honey allows the bees to preserve the pollen and nectar collected for a long time and to store it for a long time without the food decomposing.
honey production by bees is the key to their survival. Producing honey means obtaining sufficient food supplies to feed an entire swarm during the winter, when food is scarce.
Honey or royal jelly? The best food belongs to the queen bee
Honey and royal jelly are different substances in both appearance and content. Royal jelly is a semi-fluid, gelatinous substance, white in color, with a sour taste. This substance is produced by young bees through their hypopharyngeal glands. Contains a large number of B vitamins and numerous mineral salts.
Royal jelly is given to all larvae for the first three days of development. Subsequently, however, the larvae are fed with honey and pollen. Only the larvae present in the royal cells will be entitled to royal jelly for the rest of their development until the adult stage.
This is because the larvae present in the real cells have previously been selected to become queen bees . Royal jelly nourishment allows them to develop a body different from other bees.
Queen bees in fact, thanks to nourishment with better food, are able to grow in a different way, their body is larger and, unlike worker bees, develop a reproductive system capable of generate more specimens.
The queen bee is the only specimen of the hive capable of being fertilized and laying thousands of eggs per day. Royal jelly will be given to the queen bee for the rest of its life. This will always make her strong and healthy.
The average lifespan is also different. Queens can survive for years while other bees have a lifespan ranging from 40 to 60 days maximum.
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