Fourth Stage: Guarding the Hive
During the fourth stage of their lives, worker bees serve as guards at the entrance to the hive. Another change takes place in their bodies; their sting glands develop and they start to produce venom. At this stage, the bees stand sentry at the hive entrance and keep out uninvited guests. Every creature which approaches-bees included-can enter only after being identified by the guard.25 If the guard bee should happen to leave her post, she is immediately replaced by another worker, who takes over the guard duty.
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| A guard bee at the entrance to the hive |
The way bees stand guard over the hive may be compared to how immigration officers work on national frontiers. A country's border security is of the greatest importance, for which reason a large number of precautions are taken. In the same way, security in the hive is also very important: Guard bees allow absolutely no strangers into the hive.
All the bees bear a very close resemblance to one another, yet any foreign bees entering the hive are immediately identified. Scientists researching the question of how bees accomplish this came up with some very surprising conclusions:
The odor of the hive is the most important factor how bees recognize one another; thanks to this odor, the bees are able to tell each other apart. Those that do not carry the hive's distinctive odor therefore represent a danger. Without exception, every outsider lacking the odor of the hive is attacked by the guard bees.
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| Workers releasing alarm chemicals through the hive |
Bees that try to enter another hive are immediately identified by its sentries because of their different odors, and are either expelled or killed by the guards.
When an outsider appears at the entrance to the hive, the sentries immediately display a forceful reaction, using their stings against any creature perceived as being from outside the hive. Right after the guard bees' initial intervention, other bees in the hive then generally join in the attack.
The signal which initiates a general attack by worker bees in the hive is a chemical substance (pheromone) given off by the stings of the sentries attacking the outsider. In some cases, in addition to the release of the pheromones that initiate the attack, the characteristic posture and behavior of the restless bees also represent an alarm signal to the other bees in the hive. Following the dispersion of the alarm chemicals, hundreds of bees swarm to the hive's entrance. The stronger the pheromone released by the guard bees, the greater the excitement and aggression of the others.26
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| Since they do not carry the hive odor, outsiders trying to enter it are attacked and repulsed by the guard bees. |
These particular pheromones play a most important role in communication among bees, and have been used ever since the first bees appeared on Earth. Bees produce and release these chemicals with special features created for them in their bodies by God, and thus are able to maintain communications.
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| When the hive is attacked, the guard bees immediately release a chemical substance, or pheromone. This pheromone and the tense posture of the bees set the whole hive in motion. The workers defend the hive at the cost of their own lives. |
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This article is based on the works of Harunyahya www.harunyahya.com