Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: Ben Framed on April 19, 2021, 01:30:59 PM

Title: How old are nurse bees when they graduate into the work bee force?
Post by: Ben Framed on April 19, 2021, 01:30:59 PM
Generally, how old are nurse bees when they graduate into the work bee force?
Title: Re: How old are nurse bees when they graduate into the work bee force?
Post by: rothbart on April 19, 2021, 02:11:08 PM

They work from day one. You need to read a book for basics like this.
Forum is not a good way to learn beekeeping.

They start collecting nectar,  polen and water on day 21 usually.
Title: Re: How old are nurse bees when they graduate into the work bee force?
Post by: The15thMember on April 19, 2021, 02:24:30 PM
Quote from: rothbart on April 19, 2021, 02:11:08 PM

They work from day one. You need to read a book for basics like this.
Forum is not a good way to learn beekeeping.

They start collecting nectar,  polen and water on day 21 usually.
Rothbart, Phillip has been beekeeping, and successfully I might add, for 4 years now.  We are all still learning, and this forum is one of many ways to do that. 

Quote from: Ben Framed on April 19, 2021, 01:30:59 PM
Generally, how old are nurse bees when they graduate into the work bee force?
Phillip, there are a lot of jobs that the workers perform between nurse and forager.  I just finished Mark Winston's "Biology of the Honey Bee" (great read by the way), and he has two really good tables in there of the jobs that workers do at various ages, based on various studies.
[attachment=0][/attachment]
[attachment=1][/attachment]
 
This one tabulates all that info into a bar graph, so you can see how it relates more easily, instead of just the hard numbers. 
[attachment=2][/attachment]

Title: Re: How old are nurse bees when they graduate into the work bee force?
Post by: Brian MCquilkin on April 19, 2021, 02:32:57 PM
Here is a good reference.http://www.bushfarms.com/beesmath.htm (http://www.bushfarms.com/beesmath.htm)
Title: Re: How old are nurse bees when they graduate into the work bee force?
Post by: iddee on April 19, 2021, 02:44:33 PM
All that info is fine for an estimate, but keep in mind, they can advance early, or revert back to old jobs as needed. None of it is locked in stone.
Title: Re: How old are nurse bees when they graduate into the work bee force?
Post by: rothbart on April 19, 2021, 03:59:54 PM
Quote from: The15thMember on April 19, 2021, 02:24:30 PM

Rothbart, Phillip has been beekeeping, and successfully I might add, for 4 years now.  We are all still learning, and this forum is one of many ways to do that. 


This is basic knowledge. Forum is just extra help. You need a base to build up
your system, or You will be keeper of bees, not beekeeper  :smile:

I just want to help, not critique.. I was like that once.
Title: Re: How old are nurse bees when they graduate into the work bee force?
Post by: BeeMaster2 on April 19, 2021, 05:03:51 PM
Roth,
What Member is saying is that this forum is for asking questions. We enjoy answering questions, no matter how basic they are and we do not discourage our members from asking any questions.
Jim Altmiller
Title: Re: How old are nurse bees when they graduate into the work bee force?
Post by: Ben Framed on April 19, 2021, 05:21:55 PM
Edited:
Thanks sawdstmakr. Thanks each of you. :-) 
Title: Re: How old are nurse bees when they graduate into the work bee force?
Post by: rothbart on April 19, 2021, 05:26:50 PM
Quote from: sawdstmakr on April 19, 2021, 05:03:51 PM
Roth,
What Member is saying is that this forum is for asking questions. We enjoy answering questions, no matter how basic they are and we do not discourage our members from asking any questions.
Jim Altmiller

I get that. I just wanted to point out how important is to build a basic knowledge
for progression in beekeeping. Forum is too slow for that IMHO. But ok, there is fun
in interacting with people too. This is one nice and kind forum.

Here is one free basic book.

https://archive.org/download/cu31924003445354/cu31924003445354.pdf (https://archive.org/download/cu31924003445354/cu31924003445354.pdf)

It's a bit old but is alright.



Title: Re: How old are nurse bees when they graduate into the work bee force?
Post by: van from Arkansas on April 19, 2021, 06:00:17 PM
Member, that is so cool, biology of the honeybee, with references no less.  Thank you for posting.  A good rule of thumb.  I realize the data is not set in stone but serves s a good guideline.

Cheers
Title: Re: How old are nurse bees when they graduate into the work bee force?
Post by: van from Arkansas on April 19, 2021, 06:13:33 PM
Quote from: rothbart on April 19, 2021, 02:11:08 PM

They work from day one. You need to read a book for basics like this.
Forum is not a good way to learn beekeeping.

They start collecting nectar,  polen and water on day 21 usually.

[attachment=0][/attachment]

The photo is how I learned bees as a kid and today an old fert.  A mentor named Mark was of great value as well as books when I was young.  There was no forum, no internet when I was a kid.  Ya, I?m that old, I used the local library.  Lol

To this day, I still grab a chair, a lemonade, a smoke, relax in shade and just watch the bees coming and going.  I cannot tell how the guard bees recognize their own bees?  Some bees are sniffed, checked  upon the entrance whereas others just walk right into the hive.  I dunno?  I?ll keep watching though.

Cheers
Title: Re: How old are nurse bees when they graduate into the work bee force?
Post by: Ben Framed on April 19, 2021, 07:35:24 PM
> Phillip, there are a lot of jobs that the workers perform between nurse and forager.  I just finished Mark Winston's "Biology of the Honey Bee" (great read by the way), and he has two really good tables in there of the jobs that workers do at various ages, based on various studies.
[attachment=0][/attachment]
[attachment=1][/attachment]
 
This one tabulates all that info into a bar graph, so you can see how it relates more easily, instead of just the hard numbers. 
[attachment=2][/attachment]
[/quote]

Good post, thanks Member!
Title: Re: How old are nurse bees when they graduate into the work bee force?
Post by: Ben Framed on April 19, 2021, 07:47:15 PM
Quote from: Brian MCquilkin on April 19, 2021, 02:32:57 PM
Here is a good reference.http://www.bushfarms.com/beesmath.htm (http://www.bushfarms.com/beesmath.htm)

Thanks Brian, Mr Bush has a lot of good information on his site.

Quote from: iddee on April 19, 2021, 02:44:33 PM
All that info is fine for an estimate, but keep in mind, they can advance early, or revert back to old jobs as needed. None of it is locked in stone.

Thanks iddee. I know you know from first hand experience.
Title: Re: How old are nurse bees when they graduate into the work bee force?
Post by: BeeMaster2 on April 19, 2021, 08:00:49 PM
Van,
My first 2 years I also did a lot of watching. First it was in a chair watching them then I sat between my 2 hives.
I learned a lot just watching the entrance.
Jim Altmiller
Title: Re: How old are nurse bees when they graduate into the work bee force?
Post by: The15thMember on April 19, 2021, 08:08:54 PM
The bees are the best teachers.  :smile:
Title: Re: How old are nurse bees when they graduate into the work bee force?
Post by: FloridaGardener on April 19, 2021, 10:44:25 PM
Thanks for the link to the Dadant book ! ! !

https://ia800206.us.archive.org/4/items/cu31924003445354/cu31924003445354.pdf

I downloaded as Adobe PDF.  In your Adobe reader you can add "bookmarks," and keep a column on the left wide of the page that allows the reader to jump to the subheadings. 

Title: Re: How old are nurse bees when they graduate into the work bee force?
Post by: rothbart on April 20, 2021, 01:21:05 AM
Quote from: FloridaGardener on April 19, 2021, 10:44:25 PM
Thanks for the link to the Dadant book ! ! !


Quote from: van from Arkansas on April 19, 2021, 06:00:17 PM
Member, that is so cool, biology of the honeybee, with references no less.  Thank you for posting.  A good rule of thumb.  I realize the data is not set in stone but serves s a good guideline.


There are many free books on archive.org.

link is messed up for some reason

try copy paste this and not click on it

"https://archive.org/details/cornell?sort=-week&&and[]=subject%3A%22Bees%22"

If link does not work, just search Cornell University Library and then bees
in Topics & Subjects.