cape honey bee

The ability of Cape honey bees to drift and parasitise other honey bee colonies, causing these colonies to dwindle or die is of great concern. Ben Oldroyd, University of Sydney. The Cape honey bee, Apis mellifera capensis Escholtz, is a subspecies of the western honey bee, Apis mellifera Linnaeus, that occurs naturally in the Cape region of South Africa (Fig. An additional fact sheet and journal articles have been included below. Image of collecting, african, flight - 93705260 Tel: +27 (0)12 843 5000 This includes: Cape honey bees and queen. Cape Bees are unique in that the worker bees are able to reproduce their own kind through egg laying, whilst Scutellata does not do this. Cape honey bee. Cape honey bee pictured next to a queen cell in which worker-laid eggs are clearly visible (inside the white circle). Although the ability of worker bees to lay unfertilised diploid eggs which can still develop into worker bees or queen bees sounds harmless, it is the interaction between Cape honey bee colonies and African honey bee colonies in South Africa, and their unique reproductive system that is cause for great concern amongst beekeepers. Species: Mellifera View our range of Raw Cape Honey below. Cape honey bees also store less honey than European honey bees. ); rooiborsbyvreter (Afr. This is "FSBA 2010: Cape Bee" by Brendhan J. Horne on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them. Download the app to see more photos from the Candide community. Distribution # CatchHives # NeverTooLate # BeeKeeping # KeepingBees # SouthAfrica # Bees # Bee # … In the Western Cape, 50% of commercial bee keepers’ revenue currently comes from pollination services with the remaining 50% coming from the production of honey and other bee related products. Twenty-eight subspecies of Apis mellifera (the Western honeybee) occur across Asia, Europe and Africa, but only two are found in South Africa: A. m. capensis and A. m. scutellata. The Cape honey bee or Cape bee (Apis mellifera capensis) is a southern South African subspecies of the Western honey bee. Now delivering in Stellenbosch every Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. In its natural environment (the Fynbos region of South Africa), the Cape honey bee can be readily managed for the purposes of honey production and pollination, just like other races and strains of the European honey bee. The Cape honey is only present in South Africa. Although it was believed that bees hibernate in winter, the colony actually creates a winter ecosystem inside the hive and lives off honey with the bees maintaining warmth by working their wings. The Cape honeybee occurs in the natural veld of the Western and Eastern Cape, but is also common in urban gardens, in peri-urban areas and on crop land. This has happened in parts of South Africa where the Cape honeybee was introduced to areas in the north of the country. The largest zoo in the country and the only one with national status. Photo about A Cape Honey Bee on a red Aloe plant in Southern Africa. Pollinators are important for everyone on the Cape. The eggs hatch into small larvae, which are grub-like, and which are fed and cared for by “nurse worker bees”. While the Cape honeybee is officially classified as not threatened, they are experiencing threats, including diminishing forage resources, pests and diseases, as well as problems arising from misuse of pesticides and insecticides in the environment. The raw honey is then spread out in empty cells in the comb where it is fanned by the bees wings so that it loses water. Two Cape honey bees (black bees) in a colony of Africanised honey bees. The Cape honey bee is not present in Australia and there are strict quarantine requirements in place to protect the Australian honey bee industry. They are darker in color than their European cousins, but always have the characteristic striped abdomen of Apis melliferaApis mellifera The increased distribution of the Cape honey bee has therefore allowed for clonal lineages of Cape worker bees to establish, which have become widespread as reproductive (social) parasites within African honey bee populations. Digest it for about 30 minutes queen can choose the sex of her offspring of..., mating with 6-10 males on each flight in order to mate every 12 months, Cape! Related African honey bee Facts the term Cape honey bee worker is therefore a type of clone genetically... And 10 000-50 000 of her worker daughters they believe it is the South! 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