CAN BEES SURVIVE THE HEAT OF QATAR? (ABRAR 6C

Can Bees Survive the Heat of Qatar? (Abrar 6C)

They are one of the most beautiful creatures in the world: creatures that land on beautiful soft petals, collecting the best nectar that they can find. Just imagine thousands and thousands of creatures buzzing gratefully around flowers. Yes, they are bees! But did you ever wonder what temperature bees can live up to? If you are curious, well then keep reading!

Surprisingly, bees are very clever! They are intelligent and they know when the temperature gets hot and cold. Bees control the hive temperature and they prepare for summer and winter. In summer, some bees go to the front of the hive and they move their wings very sprightly so they can make some air to make the hive colder. When bees feel hot in Qatar, they will move their wings very quickly to make an air conditioner that will make the bees feel colder in summer so when they move their wings, they will move the air to make wind. Try moving your arm up and down very quickly, and see if you can feel the wind.As you can see, the bees know what to do in summer.

Apiaries Bee Farm in Qatar

In Qatar bee farms, beekeepers will let go of the bees when it comes to summer because, in summer, bees feel very hot and that makes them very slow when collecting nectar and some bees will not be able to collect nectar, so basically the bee farmers in Qatar will let the bees free only in summer because bees know where to survive better than the farmers.

A bee farmer in Qatar in Apiaries Honey Bee farm added that when it comes to summer in Qatar, there will be no flowers and the weather will be extremely hot for bees so you will just be wondering what to do! In Summer, there will be less flowers and that means less pollen, and on top of that bees will be very hot and they will not be able to collect nectar anymore.

In winter, bees act differently. At the beginning, bees may cuddle up together in front of their hive so then no cold air can come inside the hive. When more bees cuddle up together, more will feel warmer because of the temperature of the bees body. Bees can live only up to -40 in Qatar and if the temperature falls lower then the bees will die.

If the weather gets cold in Qatar, then the clever bees will cluster over the brood in the frame to keep the brood warm and the bees that were outside of the cluster will move

Cuddling Bees

inside the cluster and the bees that were inside the cluster will move towards the outside of the cluster. (If you are wondering what a brood is, then a bee brood basically refers to the eggs. This is the place where the bees store the honey; kind of like a bee comb.) When the bees move their muscles, they will provide heat and the bees will keep the brood warm.

So how did I find out about this? I asked grade 6 in surveys to learn more about bees and it looked like the grade 6s knew some information I never knew about bees and some information was strong and useful while others were just opinions so I had to carefully check each source. One person told me information about how bees can move their wings to cool the hive and this allowed me to research this in further detail.

So, next time you see a bee moving its wings very quickly or cuddling up with another bee you will know why it's doing so!

Citations and links:

FUN FACTS:

IN QATAR, THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED WAS 1.5 DEGREES. USUALLY, THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE WOULD BE AROUND 15 ONLY. THERE IS A BEE FARM LOCATED IN DOHA AND IT IS CALLED THE APIARIES HONEY BEE. THERE ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF BEES, THERE ARE HONEY BEES, BABY BEES, QUEEN BEES, KILLER BEE, BUMBLE BEES AND SO MUCH MORE! DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE ARE AROUND 20,000 DIFFERENT TYPES OF BEES LIVING IN THE WORLD? DID YOU EVEN KNOW THAT NOT ALL BEES POLLINATE? DID YOU KNOW THAT BEES DISLIKE THE SMELL OF PEPPERMINT? IN QATAR, THE BEE FARMERS COLLECT THE HONEY A BIT EARLIER THAN THE TIME THEY NEED BECAUSE BEES ALSO MAKE HONEY FOR THEMSELVES TO FEAST ON.

Survey links: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/ 1FAIpQLSeCVfIf0nWwXtv7YG2QPbebbnXEg9yj6t7C3phSJyi cEfNYJA/viewform?usp=sf_link https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/ 1FAIpQLSe5TgIKRbJ5pYn0HJFn3V9Vmrgb5KSmoIHswGKKy 5BSaPaO7g/viewform?usp=sf_link

Citations:

Allison, Paul. “Can A Beehive Get Too Hot or Too Cold?” Allison’s Apiaries, 13 Mar. 2018, allisonsapiaries.com/idealbeehive-temperature-bees-honey/. Accessed 24 Nov. 2020.

D’mello, Chantelle. “For the Love of Honey: Qatari Beekeeper Shares Secrets of His Trade - Doha News.” Doha News, 11 Oct. 2015, www.dohanews.co/for-the-love-ofhoney-qatari-beekeeper-shares-secrets-of-his-trade/. Accessed 29 Nov. 2020.

Interview: https://drive.google.com/file/d/ 1PivnHC5hFjKJC8ZMoXP_bIx8KKZBMMDh/view

The interview was on November 24 2020 and it was with Papy Michel. It was done online with Mrs Olivier supervising.