User:MillyA1116/Worker bee

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A worker bee is any female bee that lacks the reproductive capacity of the colony's queen bee and carries out the majority of tasks needed for the functioning of the hive. While worker bees are present in all eusocial bee species, the term is rarely used (outside of scientific literature) for bees other than honey bees, particularly the European honey bee (Apis mellifera). Worker bees of this variety are responsible for approximately 80% of the world's crop pollination services.

Worker bees gather pollen in the pollen baskets on their back legs and carry it back to the hive where it is used as food for the developing brood.Pollen carried on their bodies may be transferred to another flower, where a small portion can rub off on the pistil, resulting in cross pollination.Nectar is sucked up through the proboscis, mixed with enzymes in the stomach, and carried back to the hive, where it is stored in wax cells and evaporated into honey.

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life cycle

Honey bee workers keep the hive temperature uniform in the critical brood area where new bees are raised. Workers must maintain the hive's brood chamber at 34.4°C to incubate the eggs. If the chamber is too hot, the workers collect water and deposit it around the hive, then fan air with their wings to generate cooling by evaporation. If the chamber is too cold, the workers cluster together to generate body heat.

The life span of a worker bee is generally one month, although worker bees have been recorded to live for up to 2 months if born in the summer and up to 6-8 months when born in autumn or winter. The lifespan of summer worker bees can increase to 6 months if placed in a colony that lacks a queen.

All honey bees start as an egg, which is laid by the queen in the bottom of a wax cell in the brood area of the hive. A worker egg hatches after three days into a larva. Nurse bees feed it royal jelly at first, followed by pollen and honey for six days. The larva then becomes an inactive pupa and is sealed in a capped cell for 12 days. The pupa grows into a worker bee during this time. As soon as the worker bee emerges, it begins its roles in the hive. (See below.) It emerges from the hive on the 21st day of its life.

delete section about swarming behavior. It is not about worker bees specifically

progression of tasks

Cell cleaning (days 1–2)
Brood cells must be cleaned before the next use. Worker bees in the cleaning phase perform this cleaning. Cells are inspected by the queen and if unsatisfactory, they will not be used. If the cells are not clean, the worker bee must repeat the cleaning process.

Nurse bees (days 3–12)
Nurse bees feed the worker larvae worker jelly, which is secreted from glands that produce royal jelly. On days 6-12, nurse bees feed royal jelly, rich in vitamins, to the queen larva and drones. Drones receive worker jelly for 1 to 3 days until they are started on a diet of honey.

Queen attendants (days 7-11)
Queen attendants take care of the queen by feeding and grooming her. After coming into contact with the queen, the attendants spread queen mandibular pheromone (QMP) throughout the hive, which is a signal to the rest of the bees that the hive still has a viable queen.

Wax production (days 13–18)
Wax bees build cells from wax, repair old cells, and store nectar and pollen brought in by other workers. Early in the worker's career, she exudes wax from the space between her abdominal segments. Four sets of wax glands, situated inside the last four ventral segments of the abdomen, produce wax for comb construction.

Foraging bees (days 21–42)
The forager and scout bees travel up to 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) to a nectar source, pollen source, or to collect propolis or water. Worker bees journey away from the hive around 10 times each day, with each trip lasting an hour.

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balance needs improvement

the first reference cannot be accessed

most information is missing references

sources 10-13 are regular articles, not reliable, the information might not be relevant either

sources to use: environmental factors