Beekeeping Questions and All Actual
Answers 2026 Updated.
After reading about the many types of bee races available, which one would you pick, and why?
- Answer I would pick the Carniolan honey bee because they have a lot of good traits. They're
very gentle, so they're easier to handle because they don't sting as readily. They also start honey
production early and shut down early in the fall, which makes them good bees for temperate
places.
Which type of bees have stingers? - Answer Females—workers and queen
What are mandibles, and what are they used for? - Answer They are the bee's jaw. They are
used for chewing pollen and shaping beeswax.
What is the proboscis, and what is it used for? - Answer It is the bee's tongue. It is used for
lapping and sucking up fluids, such as nectar.
Where does beeswax come from? - Answer Beeswax comes from wax-secreting glands on
the underside of the bee's abdomen.
What colors can bees see? - Answer Violet, blue, blue-green, yellow, orange, and ultraviolet
light.
What purpose do bees' antennae serve? What would happen if their antennae are missing? -
Answer Antennae help guide bees inside and outside the hive, and allow them to smell and
differentiate between hive, floral, and pheromone odors. Without antennae, bees would not be
able to negotiate within and outside the colony, would be unable to make comb, and would
soon die.
What is bee bread, and how is it made? - Answer Bee bread is a highly nutritious food that
bees make out of pollen. It is made when hive bees add bacteria and enzymes to stored pollen.
The pollen is left to ferment and eventually turns into bee bread.
From egg to pupa, how many days are in each developmental stage of a queen? - Answer
Egg: 3 days
Larva: 4.6 days
Pupa: 7.5 days
Total: 15-17 days
,From egg to pupa, how many days are in each developmental stage of a worker bee? - Answer
Egg: 3 days
Larva: 6 days
Pupa: 12 days
Total: 19-22 days
How long can a worker bee live? - Answer -15-38 days in the summer
-140-320 days in the winter
From egg to pupa, how many days are in each developmental stage of a dronebee? - Answer
Egg: 3 days
Larva: 6.3 days
Pupa: 14.5 days
Total: 24-25 days
How long can a drone bee live? - Answer 8 weeks
How is the diet different for the larva of a worker vs. a queen? - Answer Queen bees are
mass-fed only royal jelly while in the larval stage. Worker bees are first mass-fed and then
progressively fed as they get older. They are fed a different type of food from the queen, called
brood food or "worker jelly," which is produced by the glands of nurse bees.
What are the three conditions that trigger queen rearing by the colony? - Answer 1. The
colony is making preparations for swarming 2. The queen's physiological and behavioral
activities are substandard 3. The queen is lost or dies.
What is swarming? - Answer Swarming is the process whereby honey bee colonies reproduce
a new colony. The existing queen departs the colony with about 1/2 the workers and a few
hundred drones to form a new colony.
What is a supersedure? - Answer Bees preparing to replace a queen that is substandard.
What are the primary "inside activities" of worker bees? - Answer Cell cleaning and capping,
tending to the brood and the queen, comb building, nest homeostasis, ventilation, food
exchange and handling, and guarding the colony.
What are the primary "outside activities" of worker bees? - Answer Flights (orientation,
drone, foraging, robbing, and cleansing) and foraging.
, At what age do workers begin "outside activities?" - Answer At the end of their third week
Why would beekeepers replace old comb after several years? - Answer Surfaces that cannot
be properly cleaned bees coat with sticky propolis, which builds up over time and progressively
makes the individual cells shallower.
What is propolis, and how is it used by bees? - Answer Propolis is a resinous substance
collected from buds or the stems of trees and carried back in pollen baskets. It is used to
strengthen the combs and cover any foreign matter than cannot be removed.
What are the two categories of brood food? - Answer Glandular (royal jelly) and non-
glandular (nectar/honey, pollen).
What is the queen's retinue, and what do they do? - Answer The queen's retinue is a circle of
worker bees that surrounds the queen and grooms her. They do this from 30-60 seconds and
then move about the hive, spreading the queen's pheromones throughout. Because of this
activity, bees that don't ever get to see the queen are able to be certain that they, in fact, have a
queen.
How does the queen's pheromone get distributed throughout the hive? - Answer The
queen's retinue helps spread the queen's scent throughout the hive.
What happens if the queen's pheromone doesn't get spread throughout the hive? - Answer If
the queen's scent doesn't reach other members of the colony or is weak, the colony will assume
they have a weak or no queen and will make preparations for a swarm or a supersedure of the
old queen.
What elements does an ideal cavity for a honeybee colony have? - Answer -Low interior light
-Dry interior protected from adverse weather
-Ample room for combs
-Entrance/Exit that allows for easy bee passage while restricting predator or parasite passage
What is bee space, and why is it important? - Answer Bee space is the size of one bee (8-10
mm). It's important because it's the maximum amount of space within the hive that bees need
to work. Any space smaller or larger than bee space will be filled in with comb.
Explain the process of how bees turn nectar into honey - Answer House bees take the nectar
from the foragers and mix in enzymes and bacteria to keep it from fermenting. Later, the bees
expose the nectar to the warm hive air to help cure it by evaporating some of its water content.
As the water content is reduced, the nectar is placed in cells where further curing takes place
for 1-5 days. The final product, honey, is cured nectar with a water content of less than 18%.
Answers 2026 Updated.
After reading about the many types of bee races available, which one would you pick, and why?
- Answer I would pick the Carniolan honey bee because they have a lot of good traits. They're
very gentle, so they're easier to handle because they don't sting as readily. They also start honey
production early and shut down early in the fall, which makes them good bees for temperate
places.
Which type of bees have stingers? - Answer Females—workers and queen
What are mandibles, and what are they used for? - Answer They are the bee's jaw. They are
used for chewing pollen and shaping beeswax.
What is the proboscis, and what is it used for? - Answer It is the bee's tongue. It is used for
lapping and sucking up fluids, such as nectar.
Where does beeswax come from? - Answer Beeswax comes from wax-secreting glands on
the underside of the bee's abdomen.
What colors can bees see? - Answer Violet, blue, blue-green, yellow, orange, and ultraviolet
light.
What purpose do bees' antennae serve? What would happen if their antennae are missing? -
Answer Antennae help guide bees inside and outside the hive, and allow them to smell and
differentiate between hive, floral, and pheromone odors. Without antennae, bees would not be
able to negotiate within and outside the colony, would be unable to make comb, and would
soon die.
What is bee bread, and how is it made? - Answer Bee bread is a highly nutritious food that
bees make out of pollen. It is made when hive bees add bacteria and enzymes to stored pollen.
The pollen is left to ferment and eventually turns into bee bread.
From egg to pupa, how many days are in each developmental stage of a queen? - Answer
Egg: 3 days
Larva: 4.6 days
Pupa: 7.5 days
Total: 15-17 days
,From egg to pupa, how many days are in each developmental stage of a worker bee? - Answer
Egg: 3 days
Larva: 6 days
Pupa: 12 days
Total: 19-22 days
How long can a worker bee live? - Answer -15-38 days in the summer
-140-320 days in the winter
From egg to pupa, how many days are in each developmental stage of a dronebee? - Answer
Egg: 3 days
Larva: 6.3 days
Pupa: 14.5 days
Total: 24-25 days
How long can a drone bee live? - Answer 8 weeks
How is the diet different for the larva of a worker vs. a queen? - Answer Queen bees are
mass-fed only royal jelly while in the larval stage. Worker bees are first mass-fed and then
progressively fed as they get older. They are fed a different type of food from the queen, called
brood food or "worker jelly," which is produced by the glands of nurse bees.
What are the three conditions that trigger queen rearing by the colony? - Answer 1. The
colony is making preparations for swarming 2. The queen's physiological and behavioral
activities are substandard 3. The queen is lost or dies.
What is swarming? - Answer Swarming is the process whereby honey bee colonies reproduce
a new colony. The existing queen departs the colony with about 1/2 the workers and a few
hundred drones to form a new colony.
What is a supersedure? - Answer Bees preparing to replace a queen that is substandard.
What are the primary "inside activities" of worker bees? - Answer Cell cleaning and capping,
tending to the brood and the queen, comb building, nest homeostasis, ventilation, food
exchange and handling, and guarding the colony.
What are the primary "outside activities" of worker bees? - Answer Flights (orientation,
drone, foraging, robbing, and cleansing) and foraging.
, At what age do workers begin "outside activities?" - Answer At the end of their third week
Why would beekeepers replace old comb after several years? - Answer Surfaces that cannot
be properly cleaned bees coat with sticky propolis, which builds up over time and progressively
makes the individual cells shallower.
What is propolis, and how is it used by bees? - Answer Propolis is a resinous substance
collected from buds or the stems of trees and carried back in pollen baskets. It is used to
strengthen the combs and cover any foreign matter than cannot be removed.
What are the two categories of brood food? - Answer Glandular (royal jelly) and non-
glandular (nectar/honey, pollen).
What is the queen's retinue, and what do they do? - Answer The queen's retinue is a circle of
worker bees that surrounds the queen and grooms her. They do this from 30-60 seconds and
then move about the hive, spreading the queen's pheromones throughout. Because of this
activity, bees that don't ever get to see the queen are able to be certain that they, in fact, have a
queen.
How does the queen's pheromone get distributed throughout the hive? - Answer The
queen's retinue helps spread the queen's scent throughout the hive.
What happens if the queen's pheromone doesn't get spread throughout the hive? - Answer If
the queen's scent doesn't reach other members of the colony or is weak, the colony will assume
they have a weak or no queen and will make preparations for a swarm or a supersedure of the
old queen.
What elements does an ideal cavity for a honeybee colony have? - Answer -Low interior light
-Dry interior protected from adverse weather
-Ample room for combs
-Entrance/Exit that allows for easy bee passage while restricting predator or parasite passage
What is bee space, and why is it important? - Answer Bee space is the size of one bee (8-10
mm). It's important because it's the maximum amount of space within the hive that bees need
to work. Any space smaller or larger than bee space will be filled in with comb.
Explain the process of how bees turn nectar into honey - Answer House bees take the nectar
from the foragers and mix in enzymes and bacteria to keep it from fermenting. Later, the bees
expose the nectar to the warm hive air to help cure it by evaporating some of its water content.
As the water content is reduced, the nectar is placed in cells where further curing takes place
for 1-5 days. The final product, honey, is cured nectar with a water content of less than 18%.
