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Author Topic: counting bees  (Read 7558 times)

Offline Wandering Buddhist

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counting bees
« on: September 25, 2005, 04:14:24 pm »
There was a book popular recently, The Da Vinci Code.  In it, it is mentioned that females outnumber males in the beehive, at all times, by a ratio of 1.618 to 1.  

Many folk have asked me if this is true.  I have never counted so exactly all of the bees in a hive, let alone tried to segregate them, so I do not know.

Do any of you know whether or not that figure is accurate?

Offline stilllearning

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« Reply #1 on: September 25, 2005, 05:36:08 pm »
The numbers you posted indicate approx 1 1/2 females for each male
that would be worker to drone
I have never seen a ratio close to that even with a laying worker
there are times of the year when the drone population is close to and can even reach zero that alone would make the ratio wrong.

to state the ratio of female to males is ever static in a hive would be wrong
as it changes daily.

I am sure the book is listed as fiction if you check a little with a library
Wayne Cole

Offline Jay

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« Reply #2 on: September 25, 2005, 05:49:19 pm »
If you extrapolate the number without the decimal point, that is 1618 instead of 1.618 to 1 then you get 40 drones for 64,720 workers. Which is also wrong because in a healthy hive (average 50 to 60 thousand) you would have a couple of hundred drones. Upshot is..... I have no idea where they came up with those numbers! :lol:
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Offline bassman1977

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« Reply #3 on: September 25, 2005, 06:42:42 pm »
If nothing else, it is an excellent book.
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Offline Wandering Buddhist

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« Reply #4 on: September 25, 2005, 08:17:24 pm »
Wayne, no need to “check a little with a library” to know that the book in question is a work of fiction.  Still, it being fiction does not indicate that every statement in the book is false.  The book also mentions a fellow named Jesus.  Is there a need to look that one up?  Is there really a painting called the Mona Lisa?  You get the idea.

Jay, I am not sure about that calculation.  I believe you may have mistook the decimal point for a comma.

Bassman, yes, I agree, it was a good read (even it is fiction).

Offline zan

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« Reply #5 on: September 26, 2005, 05:39:30 am »
If you can find point C on length AB such that is AB/AC = AC/CB you can easy construct pentagram.
This is cold golden ratio or golden section and is (1+SQRT(5))/2 or 1.618…
You can find more about this with google.

Offline Michael Bush

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« Reply #6 on: September 26, 2005, 07:51:39 am »
It is the correct ratio of female acestors to male ancestors for a drone.

It is not the correct ratio of females to males in the hive at ANY time of the year.  It is NEVER that high unless you have a laying worker or a drone laying queen and then the hive is in dire straights.

But then the ratio changes throughout the year.  In the middle of winter it's 10,0000:0.  :)  In the middle of swarm season it's about 10:1.  Right now my hives look like about 200:1.
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Offline Wandering Buddhist

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« Reply #7 on: September 26, 2005, 08:22:42 am »
Zan, I haven't much of a head for those formulas.

Michael, thanks, that is just what I needed.

Offline zan

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« Reply #8 on: September 26, 2005, 09:54:04 am »
Sorry. I just love math.

Offline Wandering Buddhist

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« Reply #9 on: September 26, 2005, 10:36:30 am »
On, I think it is great that you understand that stuff so well.  I am just jealous.  I could never wrap my brain around those complicated equations.

Offline Finsky

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« Reply #10 on: September 26, 2005, 12:19:16 pm »
Quote from: Wandering Buddhist
On, I think it is great that you understand that stuff so well.  .


Sorry, but I understand that you are all out of mind :shock:

When I was a kid, we like to count how many wagons train has. We did not noticed to  calculate ratios.

Offline bassman1977

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« Reply #11 on: September 26, 2005, 01:23:50 pm »
Quote
Sorry, but I understand that you are all out of mind


 :lol:  Thanks Finsky, I needed a good laugh.   :lol:
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Offline Jay

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« Reply #12 on: September 26, 2005, 01:26:29 pm »
Ditto me!!
I'm alright as long as the equations have numbers in them, when they start shifting to letters I'm sunk! :shock:
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Offline leominsterbeeman

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« Reply #13 on: September 26, 2005, 02:59:53 pm »
I remember the book and that is what it claimed and it was wrong.  I assue that Mr. M Bush has the right formulation.  I can't prove it, but it has something to do with the fact that a drone doesn't have a father, but has a grandfather. and this repeats in sequence,  since the grand father doesn't have a father.  etc. etc.


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Offline Finsky

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« Reply #14 on: September 26, 2005, 03:53:05 pm »
Quote from: leominsterbeeman
I can't prove it, but it has something to do with the fact that a drone doesn't have a father, but has a grandfather. and this repeats in sequence,  since the grand father doesn't have a father.  etc. etc.



But let's have a look about drones father at chromosome base.

1) Italian yellows have line and every emerged queen is yellow.
2) One beautifull day a virgin queen meets  10 yellow drones and 7 black drones.
3) Hive gets pure italians and crossed italian workers. Next summer hive makes 2 swarms and it needs 3 new queens for every colony.

4) By accident one is pure italians and 2 are crossed quite black queens.

5) When these queens make drones, and others are yellow and others quite black ones, we surely say that that crossed queens  father was a black one. Difficult to say that grandfather was black.  

6) The same fathers were fathers boath to queen and to drones. .. But are drones queen's stepbrothers or...?

But if someone does not know what means father, let's have a lesson about flowers and bees which hade one beautifull day  a queen...a flight... and 2000 drones and of which 17 drones  found same young queen ..and ..OR were they 17 grandfathers which ...
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Offline bassman1977

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« Reply #15 on: September 26, 2005, 11:46:37 pm »
ALRIGHTY THEN!  WHEW!!!!!!!  Did you hear that from your best friend's sister's niece's cousin's mother's father's baby brother?   :lol:
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Offline zan

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« Reply #16 on: September 27, 2005, 05:03:53 am »
That is not so complicate. I can say ratio between bigger part and hole length equal ratio between lower part and bigger part. We have same ratio around us. Width and length of hives defined the shape. Some people thinks that golden ratio has some relation with beauty.
And Finsky, maybe some trains have more wagons then another, maybe two times more and here we are.

Offline stilllearning

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« Reply #17 on: September 27, 2005, 08:45:42 am »
Quote from: Wandering Buddhist
Wayne, no need to “check a little with a library” to know that the book in question is a work of fiction.  Still, it being fiction does not indicate that every statement in the book is false.  The book also mentions a fellow named Jesus.  Is there a need to look that one up?  Is there really a painting called the Mona Lisa?  You get the idea.

BEING DESIGNATED as fiction by an author doesn't necessarily mean
its contents are true or false.

Much of our Historical fiction contains some turth, look at the  Congressionla Record of the United States  It can be and frequently is edited by the congressman before publication to contain things that are entirely different than what they said on the floor.

As to Mr. Browns book, I have not read it so I dont know what context he
is refering to Jesus, a very popular name among the Latin American's I work with, in Tex Mex (a spanish dialect) it is called He-sus.   The Mona Lisa , one of the most copied paintings in history also the name of a girl I used to go to school with.

I would expect a college professor teaching beekeeping in a foreign country to be able to give us the best answer as to the make up of the population of a beehive
Wayne Cole

Offline Jerrymac

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« Reply #18 on: September 27, 2005, 09:44:31 am »
I knew a Mona Lisa back in school also. Coronado High, Early seventies.
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Offline Michael Bush

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« Reply #19 on: September 27, 2005, 11:01:12 am »
"Drones are the males in the colony.  Note the general shape of the drone.  Notice two things: 1) the head is large and the eyes predominate the head and 2) the rear-end of the drone is rounded [they have no stinger and can not sting].   Although they are usually considered worthless, they  contribute to the continuation of  one generation to the next generation.  The worker bees usually determine the number of drones that can be found in a colony.  A strong healthy colony may have as many as 300 or more drones.  As winter approaches, the workers drive the drones from the hive to starve. "

http://www.gobeekeeping.com/lesson_one.htm



"A colony of bees comprises of several thousand workers, a queen, and a varying number of drones (sexually developed males)."

http://safs.csl.gov.uk/sanimal.cfm?name=bee


"The total life-span of a drone is about 60 days, unless they mate, when their life ends immediately. They are ready to mate 10 - 14 days after emergence from the cell. They do little else except eat honey and pollen, and contribute a little to the warmth of the nest. They are mostly killed or forced to leave the hive by the workers in late summer or autumn, although a few may survive into the winter, and it is usual to see a few drones at any time in the colony. The maximum number of drones is seen in late spring and early summer. "

http://www.scottishbeekeepers.org.uk/sbav2/beecraft/life.php


"Depending on the colony, the number of drones varies from a few hundred to a few thousand. Under natural conditions not more than 10 percent of the colony will consist of drones"

http://lfa.atu.edu/brucker/Engl2053/engl2053outart3.htm
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