Where do queens go to the toilet?

[melon]

Just reading up on all the bee Body workings for mod 5, and was left wondering about where the queen must defecate. I assume she must defecate, and she doesn't leave the hive, so does anyone know where and whether the workers have to clean up. She can't just keep storing it forever, surely.

 

[mbc]

One of the many tasks of her attendants is to consume her excretia.

 

[For want of a better word]

One of the many tasks of her attendants is to consume her excretia.

Often wondered if Queen is really a suitable name for the egg laying cast of a colony?

But then I am in no way a Monarchist!

 

[Curley]

and the none flying bees?

Apologies for hijacking the thread but on a related topic.....
I was watching my bees out in the sun on Sunday pm, presumably to stretch their wings and relieve themselves and maybe take a look at the snowdrops and I wondered about what the non flying bees did for their toilet duties.
OK HM has her retinue but my understanding is that typically (perhaps not at this time of year) about half the bees are performing house duties and don't leave the hive. But they are still eating and prosumably producing poo. What happens to that waste?

 

[Erichalfbee]

my understanding is that typically (perhaps not at this time of year) about half the bees are performing house duties and don't leave the hive. But they are still eating and prosumably producing poo. What happens to that waste?

All the bees at this time of year can fly....they were born in the autumn, remember.
As far as new brood, well I guess they wait till they do fly out.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

wondering about where the queen must defecate.

On the throne of course

 

[melon]

MBC-do they actually consume the queen's excreta then, or just carry it out In their mouths?

 

[mbc]

MBC-do they actually consume the queen's excreta then, or just carry it out In their mouths?

I don't think there's much to carry out, the queen is fed food which is already highly refined and I imagine what she secretes isn't really poo as we think of it but stuff that's laced with all the chemicals/pheromones that keep the colony together. We know the attendants pass these chemicals along through trophilaxis- sharing food- and without them the bees soon know they're queenless.

 

[melon]

Very interesting. Thank you. As regards the young bees, I suppose there is plenty of storage space in their rectum, as they usually go out after 3 weeks, and bees overwintering can store excretion collections for a much longer period. Also, the young bees have orientation flights before they become foragers, don't they.

 

[jonnybeegood]

MBC-do they actually consume the queen's excreta then, or just carry it out In their mouths?

Isnt that what the real HM 's butlers do for her & the rest of the clan? Cant see them wiping their own.

 

[parkranger]

Apparently the three weeks much have been up today because according to my wife, the inhabitants of six hives did a bombing run on a full line of washing today and I won't be wearing a white shirt for a while.

 

[melon]

Apparently the three weeks much have been up today because according to my wife, the inhabitants of six hives did a bombing run on a full line of washing today and I won't be wearing a white shirt for a while.

Oh dear. Funny how they like to aim at the washing specifically, or is there that much poo all over everywhere that we can't see.
Been too cold and dull here for any external activity.

 

[masterBK]

Funny how they like to aim at the washing specifically.

I think it is the optical brightening agent (from the washing powder/liquid) that is left in the material after washing clothes that attracts honey bees (absorbs U.V light and re-emits / fluoresces visible light at the blue end of the spectrum. Bees are attracted to blue light)

 

[melon]

I think it is the optical brightening agent (from the washing powder/liquid) that is left in the material after washing clothes that attracts honey bees (absorbs U.V light and re-emits / fluoresces visible light at the blue end of the spectrum. Bees are attracted to blue light)[/QUOTE]

Are you serious or having a gag?

 

[wessexmario]

bee poo on washing is probably like bird poo on your car...

in reality it's randomly spread everywhere, but you notice it more on the things that were clean to start with and that you want to keep clean.

 

[BeeJayBee]

I think it is the optical brightening agent (from the washing powder/liquid) that is left in the material after washing clothes that attracts honey bees (absorbs U.V light and re-emits / fluoresces visible light at the blue end of the spectrum. Bees are attracted to blue light)

Are you serious or having a gag?

Try these links
http://www.visualnews.com/2013/04/hidden-patterns-how-a-bee-sees-the-world-of-flowers/
and
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21128261.700-crittervision-see-like-a-bee.html

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

you notice it more on the things that were clean to start with and that you want to keep clean.

Well, I notice it on my vehicle and nothing in that sentence apples.
I believe it was clean the day I bought it and I did have it valeted when SWMBO graduated