Class 10 Life CYcle of Honeybee Exercise 3.1 Solutions | Science and Technology Curriculum Development Centre

Option C is the correct option.

Male bees (drone bees) are haploid and have 16 chromosomes while other bees (queen and worker ) are diploid and have 32 chromosomes.

Option D is correct.

During the larva stage of life cycle of honeybee, the worker bees produce a proteinaceous secretion, called royal jelly from their salivary glands and feel to all the larvae for three days.

As the third day progresses, the royal jelly is fed continuously only to the female larva, which is destined to develop into a queen bee.

Option C is the correct answer.

The Pupa stage of the bee is shown in the given diagram. It is the third stage in the life cycle of a honey bee, which comes after the Larva stage and before the Adult stage.

It is an inactive phase of a bee in which it neither moves nor eats; however, structural changes gradually occur.

Option C is correct.

Honey bee is called a social insect because it lives in a colony. The colony includes a queen bee, worker bees, and drones, each with a unique job essential to the colony's survival.

Other options do not explain why honey bee is called a social insect.

Option D is correct.

When the pollen baskets in the legs of worker bees are broken by certain means, they cannot be collection pollens from flower.

These structures are essential for holding and carrying pollen back to the hive. Without the baskets, the pollen falls off easily as they fly, so they can’t gather or transport enough to support the colony. Pollen provides protein and other nutrients that are essential for feeding the larvae and supporting the health and growth of the colony.

Option B is correct.

Drone bees are haploid, fertile, medium sized and hairy.

Other options( C and D)  include diploid as a character which is not true for a drone be. They are haploid with 16 chromosomes.

While option A has sterile as a character which is also not true. They mate with the queen bees to increase the number of bees in the colony.

Following are the differences between Drone bee and Worker bee:

Following are the differences between Queen bee and Worker bee:

Following are the differences between Queen bee and Drone bee:

Like humans, honey bees live in a colony with proper work division. Thousands of bees live in the colony, with one queen bee - the head of the colony, hundreds of drone (male) bees and worker (sterile female) bees. Hence, they are called social insects. 

Pasture land is crucial for bee farming because it provides a diverse range of flowering plants that supply nectar and pollen, which are essential for bee nutrition. 

This diversity ensures a continuous food source throughout the blooming season and supports healthy bee populations. Additionally, pasture areas offer suitable nesting habitats and shelter from harsh weather, while also reducing competition from intensive agricultural practices. 

By maintaining pasture land, beekeepers can promote healthier colonies and enhance pollination services for surrounding crops, contributing to a sustainable agricultural ecosystem.

Drone bees survive for about 2 months only.

When a drone successfully mates with a queen bee, he inserts his reproductive organ, known as the endophallus, into her body to transfer sperm. 

Upon withdrawal, the endophallus is torn away from the drone's body, along with a portion of his abdomen. This traumatic event leads to the drone's death shortly after mating.

Bees, honeybees, are multipurpose insects because of the following reasons:

1. Medicine and Cosmetics: Highly nutritious honey is used in Ayurvedic medicine, whereas beeswax is widely used in cosmetics.
2. Apiculture: Farmers rear honeybees on their farms and sell the honey to the market. Thus, it is a source of income for the farmers. Moreover, it helps in uplifting the economy of the nation.
3. Pollination: Bees suck the nectars of flowers. In the process, the pollen grains of the host flowers get attached to the bees' bodies. When they suck the nectar of another flower of the same kind, the pollen grains get transferred to the new flower. In this way, bees carry out cross-pollination. Thus, they help in the reproduction of flowers.
4. Moral and Life Lessons: Bees are hard-working insects that live in a colony. They have proper task division. Their unity is commendable. As a result, human beings can learn the lessons of hard work, task division, unity, and social harmony from the bees.

Honeybees contribute in a variety of areas as discussed above. Hence, they are multipurpose insects.

Three types of bees are found in the hive. They include:

• Queen bee
• Drone bees
• Worker bees

The drone bee is the laziest in the colony. Its main function is to fertilize the queen bee, taking part in reproduction.

When a queen bee dies, the worker bees take control of the hive by quickly recognizing the loss of her pheromones, which suppress their reproductive capabilities. 

They initiate a process to rear a new queen by selecting young larvae and feeding them a diet rich in royal jelly. This emergency queen-rearing process takes about 16 days. During this time, the hive operates without a queen, which can lead to instability. 

If successful, one of the new queens will emerge, mate, and begin laying eggs, restoring order to the colony. If no new queen is produced or if she fails to mate successfully, the colony may eventually decline.

The queen bee controls other members of the hive primarily through the release of pheromones. 

This chemical signal regulates various activities within the colony by influencing the behavior and physiology of worker bees. For example, it promotes worker unity and cohesion, ensuring that all bees focus on their roles, such as foraging, nursing, and comb building. 

Additionally, it suppresses the reproductive capabilities of worker bees, preventing them from laying eggs and maintaining a single-queen system in the hive. When the queen is healthy and active, her strong pheromone presence keeps the hive organized and functioning smoothly; however, if she dies or becomes unproductive, the decrease in pheromone levels signals the workers to initiate queen-rearing processes to replace her.

The uses of honey are as follows:

1. Honey is fat free, cholesterol free and sodium free food stuff for humans.
2. It has medicinal value, so it is mainly used in Ayurvedic medicine as laxative, antiseptic and sedative.
3. It can also be used to treat mental weakness/mental fatigue, tuberculosis, stomach diseases, heart disorders and eye diseases.
4. It also contains Pinocembrin antioxidant that improves brain functioning. It also strengthens our immune system. 

The structure of the queen bee is described below.

The queen bee is the largest sized and elongated bee in the beehive. Its head is smaller and rounded than other bees. Its proboscis is short and covered with hairs. Sting is present at the end of the abdomen.

Queen bees lay eggs and drone bees fertilize the queen bee.

 On the other hand ,worker bees, the busiest and hardworking bees have various divisions of labour. The division of labour that occurs in different worker bees according to their ages is given below:

1.   1-3 days → Cleaning the hive and maintaining warmth of egg, larva and pupa
2.  4-6 days → Forming honey and honey bread
3.  7-11 days → Forming royal jelly and feeding larva and queen 
4. 12-17 days → Develops four wax glands and forms wax to seal the combs and to increase                          them.
5. 18-20 days→ Security
6.  21days-death → Collection of pollen and nectar.

The life cycle of a bee goes through four stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult.

The queen bee lays both fertilized and unfertilized eggs. Drone bees develop from the unfertilized eggs and are haploid, while worker bees and queen bee develop from the fertilized eggs and are diploid.

• Egg Stage:

The queen bee lays pin head sized white eggs in wax cells of the hive. Eggs are small and upright, hatching after about 3 days into larvae. 

• Larva Stage: 

After hatching, the larva is fed royal jelly for the first few days. The royal jelly is fed continuously only to the female larva which is destined to develop into queen been.

The rest are switched to a diet of pollen and honey. This stage lasts about 6 days, during which the larva molts several times. The workers seal the top of the brood cells with bee wax for protection and transformation into pupa.

• Pupa Stage:

In the pupa stage, the bees begin to develop legs, eyes and wings and this process is known as histogenesis. When the bees reach a stage of maturity, the mandibles chew the way out of the cells and they emerge as adult bees. 

The pupa stage lasts for 7 days for the queen, 12 days for the workers and 14 days for the drones.

• Adult Stage:

All three types of adult bees are now fully grown. They are ready to accomplish their tasks.

Drone bees are developed from unfertilized eggs. This process is called parthenogenesis.

Honey bees feed on the nectar of flowers. When a farmer practices bee farming or apiculture, the bees wander in its locality for nectar. Those bees feed on the nectar of flowers to flowers.

During each feeding, some of the pollen grains of the host flowers get attached to the bodies of the bees. When those bees feed on the other flowers, the pollen grains get transferred to them. As a result, there is cross-pollination in the crops of other farmers in the locality. This means more growth of crops and a higher yield. A higher yield results in greater income for farmers.

Thus, when a farmer practices bee farming, the income of other farmers in that locality also increases.

Honey bees feed on the nectar of flowers. When a farmer practices bee farming or apiculture, the bees wander in its locality for nectar. Those bees feed on the nectar of flowers to flowers.

During each feeding, some of the pollen grains of the host flowers get attached to the bodies of the bees. When those bees feed on the other flowers, the pollen grains get transferred to them. As a result, there is cross-pollination in the crops of other farmers in the locality. This means more growth of crops and a higher yield. 

When the beekeepers shifted from that area due to the problem of pasture land, pollination of mustard crops decreased, decreasing yield. Hence, beekeeping and agricultural production are closely related.