Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T05:09:41.975Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Cocoon of the Honey Bee, Apis mellifera L.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

S. C. Jay
S. C. Jay
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

During cocoon construction the predominant movement made by larvae of the three honey bee castes is a forward somersault which is made dorsal side outermost. Worker, drone, and queen larvae complete one somersault in 52, 46 or 67 (at two different times), and 32 minutes respectively with the total number of somersaults made during cocoon construction being 27-37, 40-50, and 40-80 respectively; the larvae take 37, 54, and 30 hours respectively to complete their cocoons. Weight changes of larvae before and after the cocoons are made are given.

Worker and drone larvae build completely enclosed cocoons directly on the side walls and end walls of cells, but queen larvae leave spaces between the cappings and the cocoons and do not cover the bases of their cells with cocoon material.

Cocoons consist of silk gland secretion (in thin sheets and threads), a colourless material, a light yellow material, and a more solid brown material (faeces); the last three are discharged from the larval anus. When, how, and where these various secretions and excretions are placed in the cocoon, and their probable origins, are described. Possibly some brood food is incorporated into the cocoon but skin secretions or larval blood are not.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 96 , Issue 5 , May 1964 , pp. 784 - 792
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1964

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arnhart, L. 1919. Das Puppenhäuschen der Honigbiene. Z. angew. Ent. 5: 231–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arnhart, L. 1931. Das Puppenhäuschen der Honigbiene. Arch. Bienenk. 12: 290–304.Google Scholar
Bertholf, L. M. 1925. The moults of the honeybee. J. econ. Ent. 18: 380–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Betts, A. D. 1920. The cocoon of the bee. Bee World 1: 227.Google Scholar
Cheshire, F. R. 1886. Bees and beekeeping. Vol. 1. Upcott Gill, London.Google Scholar
Dobrovsky, T. M. 1951. Postembryonic changes in the digestive tract of the worker honeybee (Apis mellifera L.). Mem. Cornell Univ. Agric. Exp. Sta. 301, 45 pp.Google Scholar
Gundelach, F. W. 1842. Die Naturgeschichte der Honigbiene. Cassell, London.Google Scholar
Haydak, M. H. 1943. Larval food and development of castes in the honeybee. J. econ. Ent. 36: 778–792.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haydak, M. H. 1949. The queen honeybee. Rep. Ia Sta. Apiar. 1949: 68–94.Google Scholar
Herrod-Hempsall, W. 1930. Bee-keeping, new and old. British Bee Journal, London.Google Scholar
Huber, F. 1814. New observations on bees, I and II (1926). Dadant, Hamilton, Illinois.Google Scholar
Jay, S. C. 1959. Factors affecting the laboratory rearing of honey bee larvae (Apis mellifera L.). M.S.A. Thesis, Univ. of Toronto.Google Scholar
Jay, S. C. 1963. The longitudinal orientation of larval honey bees (Apis mellifera) in their cells. Canad. J. Zool. 41: 718–723.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koehler, A. 1923. Über die postembryonale Entwicklung der Honigbiene. Landw. Jb. Schweiz 37: 183–192.Google Scholar
Langstroth, L. L. 1890. The hive and the honeybee. Dadant, Hamilton, Illinois.Google Scholar
Latham, A. 1954. Cited ABC and XYZ of bee culture. Root, Medina, Ohio.Google Scholar
Lineburg, B. 1924. Activities of honeybee larvae. Glean. Bee Cult. 52: 356–358.Google Scholar
Melampy, R. M., Willis, E. R., and McGregor, S. E.. 1940. Biochemical aspects of the differentiation of the female honeybee (Apis mellifera L.). Physiol. Zool. 13: 282–293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, A. C. 1911. Bee behaviour. Glean. Bee Cult. 39: 663–664.Google Scholar
Nelson, J. A., and Sturtevant, A. P.. 1924. Growth and feeding of honeybee larvae. Bull. U.S. Dep. Agric. 1222, 24 pp.Google Scholar
Prell, H. 1924a. Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Honigbiene. Märk. Bienenztg. 5: 74–78; 7: 112–114; 8: 127–129.Google Scholar
Prell, H. 1924b. Der Kokon der Honigbiene. Erlanger Jb. Bienenk. 2: 176–189.Google Scholar
Rhein, W. von. 1933. Ueber die Entstehung des weiblichen Dimorphismus im Bienenstaate. Arch. EntwMech. Org. 129: 601–655.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snodgrass, R. E. 1956. Anatomy of the honey bee. Cornell Univ. Press, New York.Google Scholar
Stabe, H. A. 1930. The rate of growth of worker, drone, and queen larvae of the honeybee. J. econ. Ent. 23: 447–453.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Straus, J. 1911. Die chemische Zusammensetzung der Arbeitsbienen und Drohnen wahrend ihrer verschiedenen Entwicklungsstadien. Z. Biol. 56: 347–397.Google Scholar
Velich, A. V. 1930. Entwicklungsmechanische Studien an Bienenlarven. Z. wiss. Zool. 136: 210–222.Google Scholar
Wedmore, E. B. 1932. A manual of beekeeping. Edward Arnold, London.Google Scholar
Weippl, T. 1931. Der Kokon der Bienenlarve. Arch. Bienenk. 12: 305–314.Google Scholar
Zander, E., Löschel, F. and Meier, K.. 1916. Die Ausbildung des Geschlechtes bei der Honigbiene (Apis mellifica L.). Z. angew. Ent. 3: 1–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar