How Many Bees?

[Scadsobees]

Hey, if Cat Crap lip balm does fine, why can't Bee Barf honey???

I wouldn't buy it, but hey if there's weirdos out there who will, then you've got a market :-D Go for it!

I'm guessing that BeePee brand might be a failure right now, though....

[harvey]

Scadsobees!  Maybe that is why some Honey is a little lighter than others!!!    I personally like my darker honies!!!   

[Finski]

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Because nothing on the internet is ever wrong. ;)

The SECRET is, how to distinguish the wrong information and the good information. In internet over 90% is nonsence but
if you know where to find a good infotauion, you can do it.

To that you need good basic knowledge.  But "my friend said" is not much.

I have learned the weight of the bee 48 years ago from beekeeping book. Its name was "Modern Beekeeping".

New to me was that the weight variation is so big.

For example the first answer was in wikianswer: 0,218 g . It is the weight of big queen.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_weight_of_a_honeybee

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[BjornBee]

Darn it, I guess I have to agree with Bjorn. It's so much more fun when I can argue with him, but some "funny" things are just sickening to me, rather than funny.

Thanks iddee.

By the number of phone calls, conversations, and emails, your not alone.   :shock:

[Understudy]

Hi Jamie,

Some simple questions for you.

1. What is the average body weight of a worker bee?

2. Can that be used to calculate the number of bees in a 3 lb package?
(Approximate number)

I am assuming it can.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

Hey Brendhan,

1) the weight ranges, but 110 ± mg or so is fairly standard. I often determine bee weight for many of my experiments and it ranges between 90 mg - 120 mg (sometimes more).

2) yes, but remember it will be different for each package. So, rather than accept a "standard" weight for bees, I would:

A) preweigh a jar
B) put a subsample of bees from the package into the preweighed jar
C) weigh the jar with bees and count the bees. The different in weight between the before and after bees weight is the total weight of all the bees in the jar. Then, divide the number of bees in the jar into the total weight of bees from the jar. That will be the weight per bee of bees in the subsample. You can extrapolate this for the entire package. Weigh the package full of bees. Weigh the package empty. Then divide the weight of bees in the package by the weight per bee in the subsample. That will be a rough estimate of the number of bees in the package.

We do this all the time to determine the number of bees in a colony. Weigh the colony full of bees. Weigh the colony without bees. Take a subsample of bees as described above. Use all the info to determine the number of bees in the colony.......

Jamie

[Finski]

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Because nothing on the internet is ever wrong. ;)

The SECRET is, how to distinguish the wrong information and the good information. In internet over 90% is nonsence but .

Sorry Understudy, you was right too...

I bought a balance which accuracy is 0,01 g
I weighed swarming bees and I got the same result what Understudy told. Their  average weight was 170 mg. The biggest was 190 mg.

I continue weighing and I use the information in  breeding.
I like big bees.

[Finski]

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I weighed a new born bee and it was 120 mg. It has feces in its gut but new born may be a way to weigh the differencies.