Western honey bee - Quiz
Western honey bee
  • 1. What internal body temperature does the western honey bee need to fly?
A) 35 °C (95 °F)
B) 20–22 °C (68–72 °F)
C) 22–25 °C (72–77 °F)
D) 50 °C (122 °F)
  • 2. How low may the winter cluster's internal temperature drop?
A) 7–10 °C (45–50 °F)
B) 20–22 °C (68–72 °F)
C) 35 °C (95 °F)
D) 22–25 °C (72–77 °F)
  • 3. Over what air-temperature range can western honey bees forage?
A) 15 °C (59 °F) range
B) 30 °C (86 °F) range
C) 45 °C (113 °F) range
D) 10 °C (50 °F) range
  • 4. What is the mechanism used by bees at low air temperatures before flight?
A) Evaporative cooling
B) Shivering
C) Passive body-temperature regulation
D) Regurgitating honey
  • 5. What cooling method is used by bees from regurgitated honey-sac contents at high air temperatures?
A) Asphyxiation
B) Shivering
C) Conduction
D) Evaporative cooling
  • 6. What factors cause body temperatures to differ in western honey bees?
A) Flight distance and wind speed
B) Age and hive size
C) Color and honey production
D) Caste and expected foraging rewards
  • 7. What is the optimal air temperature for foraging?
A) 22–25 °C (72–77 °F)
B) 30 °C (86 °F)
C) 35 °C (95 °F)
D) 20–22 °C (68–72 °F)
  • 8. Where does the honey bee release heat through evaporative cooling during flight?
A) Through its mouth
B) Through its abdomen
C) Through its stinger
D) Through its wings
  • 9. Under hot conditions, where is heat from the thorax dissipated?
A) Through the head
B) Through the legs
C) Through the abdomen
D) Through the wings
  • 10. What is the dropped warm internal fluid used to reduce head temperature called?
A) A nectar bubble
B) A wax particle
C) Hemolymph bead
D) A honeycrop droplet
  • 11. By how much does the honeycrop droplet reduce the temperature of the bee's head?
A) 5 °C (9 °F)
B) 10 °C (18 °F)
C) 22 °C (72 °F)
D) 35 °C (95 °F)
  • 12. At what low temperature range do bees become immobile?
A) Below 7–10 °C (45–50 °F)
B) Below 15 °C (59 °F)
C) Below 0 °C (32 °F)
D) Below 20 °C (68 °F)
  • 13. At what high temperature do bees experience slowed activity?
A) Above 50 °C (122 °F)
B) Above 45 °C (113 °F)
C) Above 30 °C (86 °F)
D) Above 38 °C (100 °F)
  • 14. What is the maximum temperature western honey bees can tolerate for short periods?
A) 42 °C (108 °F)
B) 38 °C (100 °F)
C) 35 °C (95 °F)
D) 50 °C (122 °F)
  • 15. Which thermal defense do western honey bees lack compared to Apis cerana?
A) Shivering
B) Thoracic heating
C) Evaporative cooling
D) The thermal defense exhibited by Apis cerana
  • 16. Which western honey bee subspecies is capable of killing invading hornets through asphyxiation?
A) Apis mellifera ligustica
B) Apis mellifera mellifera
C) Apis mellifera cypria
D) Apis cerana
  • 17. How does the subspecies Apis mellifera cypria kill invading hornets?
A) Through high temperatures
B) Through starvation
C) Through asphyxiation
D) Through venomous stinging
  • 18. What is the primary basis for behavioral and physiological differences between castes and subcastes?
A) Heritable genotypic differences
B) Phenotypic plasticity
C) Environmental temperature
D) Random genetic mutation
  • 19. What type of differences do NOT cause the variations between castes and subcastes?
A) Heritable genotypic differences
B) Gene expression differences
C) Phenotypic plasticity differences
D) Dietary differences during larval stages
  • 20. Which bee caste is a fertile female with a fully developed reproductive system?
A) Worker
B) Forager
C) Queen
D) Drone
  • 21. How do queens compare in size to workers?
A) Size varies randomly regardless of caste
B) Workers are larger
C) Queens are larger
D) They are the exact same size
  • 22. What characteristic physical feature is rounder and longer in a queen bee?
A) Mandible
B) Abdomen
C) Head
D) Thorax
  • 23. What kind of egg can potentially become either a queen or a worker bee?
A) Drone egg
B) Unfertilized egg
C) Female egg
D) Diploid male egg
  • 24. What substance are both worker and queen larvae fed during their first three days?
A) Bee bread
B) Royal jelly
C) Honey only
D) Mixed pollen and nectar
  • 25. Royal jelly is high in protein and low in which component?
A) Vitamins
B) Flavonoids
C) Lipids
D) Sugars
  • 26. What common term is used for the mixed pollen and nectar fed to worker larvae?
A) Nectar mash
B) Bee bread
C) Hive mix
D) Brood paste
  • 27. Which larvae continue to receive royal jelly throughout their larval development?
A) Prospective workers
B) Prospective queens
C) All larvae equally
D) Prospective drones
  • 28. How many general causes are there for a colony to determine that a new queen is needed?
A) Five
B) Four
C) Three
D) Two
  • 29. What triggers a swarm in relation to hive conditions?
A) A lack of royal jelly in the hive
B) Excessive cold weather in winter
C) The hive is filled with honey, leaving little room for new eggs
D) The old queen dies suddenly
  • 30. During a swarm, what proportion of worker bees does the old queen typically take with her?
A) A small fraction
B) None of them
C) About half
D) All of them
  • 31. What term describes the situation when an old queen begins to fail and is usually killed?
A) Swarming
B) Supersedure
C) Colony collapse
D) Emergency supersedure
  • 32. A failing old queen is thought to be demonstrated by a decrease in what substance throughout the hive?
A) Honey stores
B) Queen pheromones
C) Royal jelly
D) Bee bread
  • 33. What is the situation called when the old queen dies suddenly?
A) Standard supersedure
B) Brood termination
C) Emergency supersedure
D) Natural swarming
  • 34. How can emergency supersedure generally be recognized regarding the new queen cells?
A) They are placed outside the hive entirely
B) They are built out from comb cells
C) They are identical to drone cells
D) They are painted with propolis
  • 35. Where do typical queen cells hang from in standard situations?
A) The sides of the entrance
B) The top of the hive
C) The center of the honeycomb
D) The bottom of a frame
  • 36. What orientation are queen cells built in?
A) Diagonally
B) Upside down
C) Horizontally
D) Vertically
  • 37. What position does the queen move into when she finishes her larval feeding and pupates?
A) Rolled into a ball
B) Horizontal position
C) Head-upward position
D) Head-downward position
  • 38. How does a new queen exit her cell when she is ready?
A) She pushes through the bottom
B) Workers open it for her
C) It dissolves in royal jelly
D) She chews her way out
  • 39. What action do workers take on the queen cell at pupation?
A) They tear down the cell
B) They feed her honey
C) They cap (seal) the cell
D) They move the cell to the bottom
  • 40. Where does a young queen fly after several days of orientation in and around the hive?
A) To a distant flower field
B) To the highest tree branch
C) To another established hive
D) To a drone congregation area
  • 41. Where do drones mate with the queen?
A) Inside the hive
B) On a leaf surface
C) On the ground
D) In midair
  • 42. What objects can drones be induced to mate with?
A) Dummy queens with the queen pheromone
B) Flower blossoms
C) Worker bees coated in pollen
D) Small wooden sticks
  • 43. How many times does a queen mate?
A) Only once
B) Never
C) Exactly twice
D) Multiple times
  • 44. Until what point does a queen continue to leave and mate over several days?
A) Until her spermatheca is full
B) Until the workers stop her
C) Until winter arrives
D) Until she runs out of energy
  • 45. Who lays all the eggs in a healthy colony?
A) The queen
B) The drones
C) The workers
D) The foragers
  • 46. When do queens generally begin to slow their egg-laying?
A) In the early fall
B) In the early spring
C) During a heavy nectar flow
D) In the midsummer
  • 47. When does egg-laying generally resume after slowing down or stopping?
A) Only when summer begins
B) In mid-autumn
C) In late winter when the days lengthen
D) When the old queen dies
  • 48. During which season does egg-laying peak?
A) Late summer
B) Spring
C) Winter
D) Autumn
  • 49. At the height of the season, how many eggs may the queen lay per day?
A) Over 500 eggs
B) Over 10,000 eggs
C) Exactly 100 eggs
D) Over 2,500 eggs
  • 50. When does the queen fertilize an egg?
A) As it is laid in a worker-sized cell
B) Before it is formed in her body
C) After it is placed in a drone cell
D) Only when the workers request it
  • 51. What is used to fertilize eggs laid in worker-sized cells?
A) Stored sperm from the spermatheca
B) Pollen nutrients
C) Royal jelly secreted by workers
D) Nectar collected from flowers
  • 52. What happens to eggs laid in drone-sized cells?
A) They develop into new queens
B) They are fertilized with extra sperm
C) They are left unfertilized
D) They are immediately destroyed by workers
  • 53. How many genes do unfertilized drone eggs have compared to queen or worker eggs?
A) No genes
B) The exact same number of genes
C) Twice as many genes
D) Half as many genes
  • 54. Unfertilized eggs develop into which caste?
A) Queens
B) Foragers
C) Drones
D) Workers
  • 55. What is the sex of worker bees?
A) Hermaphrodite
B) Asexual
C) Female
D) Male
  • 56. What type of eggs do workers develop from?
A) Fertilized, diploid eggs
B) Drone eggs
C) Pollen-fed eggs
D) Unfertilized, haploid eggs
  • 57. Why do workers carry out the main tasks of the colony?
A) Because workers outlive the queen by years
B) Because the queen lives outside the hive
C) Because workers are stronger than the queen
D) Because the queen is occupied solely with reproducing
  • 58. What do workers do for their sister workers and future queens?
A) Ignore them completely
B) Exile them
C) Raise them
D) Compete with them for food
  • 59. What do future queens eventually do after being raised by workers?
A) Leave the hive to become foragers
B) Transform into worker bees
C) Leave the nest to start their own colony
D) Take over the current queen's exact position immediately
  • 60. What is one of the defensive roles of workers?
A) Defend the drone congregation area
B) Defend the flowers from other insects
C) Defend the swarm site from rain
D) Defend the colony
  • 61. What does the Latin species name mellifera mean?
A) fast-flying or social
B) sweet-tasting or nectar-producing
C) hive-building or winged
D) honey-bearing or honey-carrying
  • 62. What is the reproductive status of workers in a western honey bee colony?
A) Fertile females capable of laying all eggs
B) Fully fertile queens in training
C) Sterile males that do not forage
D) Normally non-reproductive females
  • 63. What is the reproductive status of drones in a western honey bee colony?
A) Fertile males
B) Sterile workers
C) Non-reproductive females
D) Fertile egg-laying females
  • 64. What status was the western honey bee assessed as on the IUCN Red List as of 2025?
A) Critically Endangered
B) Extinct in the Wild
C) Data Deficient
D) Least Concern
  • 65. On which continent is the western honey bee NOT found?
A) Antarctica
B) Asia
C) Africa
D) North America
  • 66. Where is the western honey bee believed to have originated?
A) Australia or New Zealand
B) Africa or Asia
C) North America or South America
D) Antarctica or Europe
  • 67. How many recognized subspecies of western honey bees are there?
A) 50
B) 7
C) 12
D) 31
  • 68. Which major branch contains African western honey bee subspecies?
A) Branch C
B) Branch M
C) Branch O
D) Branch A
  • 69. Which major branch contains Middle Eastern western honey bee subspecies?
A) Branch M
B) Branch C
C) Branch O
D) Branch A
  • 70. What scientific method confirmed the four major branches of western honey bee subspecies?
A) Pollen tracking analysis
B) Behavioral observation in deserts
C) Mitochondrial DNA analysis
D) Wing venation measurement
  • 71. Who originally worked on dividing the subspecies into major branches later confirmed by DNA analysis?
A) Darwin
B) Mendel
C) Ruttner
D) Linnaeus
  • 72. Because of their high degree of sociality and permanence, western honey bee colonies can be considered what?
A) Symbionts
B) Superorganisms
C) Megacolonies
D) Ecosystems
  • 73. When the swarm leaves the old colony, approximately what fraction of the adult workers go with the old queen?
A) All of them
B) Only ten percent
C) Approximately two-thirds
D) Exactly one-fourth
  • 74. What do daughter queens often start doing just prior to emerging as adults in the old colony?
A) Swarming
B) Dancing
C) Foraging
D) Piping
  • 75. What trait allows virgin females in bees, wasps, and ants to lay eggs that develop into males?
A) Haplodiploidy
B) Metamorphosis
C) Parthenogenesis exclusively via diploid cells
D) Polyploidy
  • 76. What percentage or more of bees in the colony at any given time are female offspring?
A) 50%
B) 25%
C) 90%
D) 10%
  • 77. What probably triggers the queen to start laying eggs again in mid- through late winter?
A) The temperature dropping below freezing
B) Day length
C) The arrival of spring rain
D) The appearance of the first drone
  • 78. In what type of toxicity studies are western honey bees also used, especially via pollen?
A) Radiation toxicity
B) Plastics toxicity
C) Pesticide toxicity
D) Heavy metal toxicity
  • 79. What do African subspecies exhibit as an adaptation to local environments?
A) Forming a winter cluster
B) Migratory swarming
C) Producing honey without pollen
D) Hibernating for six months
  • 80. How many distinct life stages does the western honey bee have?
A) Two
B) Three
C) Five
D) Four
  • 81. How long after being sealed in its cell does the larva emerge as an adult bee?
A) Another two weeks
B) Another week
C) Another month
D) Another three days
  • 82. What are young bees in the comb commonly called?
A) Brood
B) Nymphs
C) Drones
D) Larvae
  • 83. What type of offspring do worker bees produce when they lay eggs?
A) Haploid (male) offspring
B) Sterile offspring
C) Queen offspring
D) Diploid (female) offspring
  • 84. What is the stinger of queens and workers?
A) A mutated leg
B) A specialized antenna
C) An internal gland
D) A modified ovipositor
  • 85. Where are drones typically located inside hive clusters?
A) Near the entrance
B) Near the center
C) At the very top
D) Scattered randomly
  • 86. What fraction of genes does a fertile female worker share with her own produced drones?
A) All of them
B) One-half
C) Three-quarters
D) One-quarter
  • 87. What fraction of genes does a fertile female worker share with her brothers?
A) One-quarter
B) Three-quarters
C) None
D) One-half
  • 88. What is the phenomenon called where worker bees patrol the hive and remove worker-laid eggs?
A) Thermoregulation
B) Anarchic syndrome
C) Worker policing
D) Kin selection
  • 89. What is worker policing an example of?
A) Forced altruism
B) Group starvation
C) Anarchic syndrome
D) Natural selection failure
  • 90. What is it called when workers subvert policing mechanisms and lay eggs faster than others remove them?
A) Worker policing
B) Queen-worker conflict
C) Anarchic syndrome
D) Haploid mutation
  • 91. What molecule is measured to determine increased DNA damage in flight muscle?
A) Deoxyribonucleic acid
B) Adenosine triphosphate
C) Ribonucleic acid
D) 8-Oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine
  • 92. Who received the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for studying honey bee communication?
A) Charles Darwin
B) Karl von Frisch
C) Gregor Mendel
D) Jacobus Biesmeijer
  • 93. What type of dance indicates that food is within 50 metres of the hive?
A) The vibration dance
B) The waggle dance
C) The round dance
D) The jerking dance
  • 94. What sense do foragers rely on to help locate a food source after being directed by dances?
A) Visual sense
B) Olfactory sense
C) Tactile sense
D) Auditory sense
  • 95. Do close relatives of western honey bees, such as dwarf honey bees, change the precision of the waggle dance for new goal sites?
A) No
B) Only for close food sources
C) Yes
D) Only in summer
  • 96. What percentage of observed shaking signals were executed by experienced foragers in Biesmeijer's study?
A) 71%
B) 50%
C) 92%
D) 64%
  • 97. What percentage of shaking signals were made after the discovery of a food source?
A) 64%
B) 92%
C) 71%
D) 50%
  • 98. What percentage of shaking signals occurred before the first five successful foraging flights of the day?
A) 71%
B) 92%
C) 50%
D) 64%
  • 99. Towards which type of bees is the shaking signal preferentially directed?
A) Inactive bees
B) Returning worker bees
C) Experienced foragers
D) Dwarf honey bees
  • 100. Are all three forms of communication among honey bees effective in foraging and task management?
A) Yes
B) No
C) Only the waggle dance is effective
D) Only the round dance is effective
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