An assignment where I looked at the eusocial colonies of honeybees using a systems thinking approach.

1. AOIFE FAHEY SYSTEMS THINKING - PROJECT 1 FEB 18 2017
HONEYBEE HIVE

2. AOIFE FAHEY SYSTEMS THINKING - PROJECT 1 FEB 18 2017
SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
There are many ways to view a Beehive system - from the
beekeeper’s perspective on how to get the honey, the
bee’s perspective on how to keep the hive thriving and
nature’s perspective of the important role bees play in the
local eco-systems. For this project, I will be looking at the
beehives from the honeybee perspective and examining all
the elements that go into making a fuctioning beehive.
Honeybees are eusocial insects, meaning that they put the
colony’s needs over individual needs. There are 3 castes
of adult bees in each colony:
1 Queen bee
100’s of male Drone bees
1000’s of female worker bees
BEHAVIOUR
Although it appears at first glance to be a heirarchy, with
the queen bee in charge, more research is showing that
this is not the case and in fact the colony is controlled
by “the anonymous consensus of the colony’s workers”1
.
None of the castes would be able to function or survive
without the others but together they can create a highly
organised system that can survive for years.

3. AOIFE FAHEY SYSTEMS THINKING - PROJECT 1 FEB 18 2017
The system exploration began with a saturate and group process where the many different elements of hives where written down
individually and afterwards arranged into relevant groups. Many elements could be repeated into numerous groups or connect to
elements in other groups.
SYSTEM EXPLORATION

4. AOIFE FAHEY SYSTEMS THINKING - PROJECT 1 FEB 18 2017
To see the uses of the different
Materials bees produce.
To understand how bees communicate
Examine how bees produce materials
Examine the lifecycle of caste
Explore the daily functions carried out by
worker bees
Understand the roles of different castes
Original System
Honeybee hive
Broader System
The important role of bees in our
Ecosystem
Narrower System
How do bees build their structures?
How do bees make honey?
How do bees communicate with each other?
How do bees find food?
Why do I want to explore
this system?
Why else?
What do I need to
fully explore this system?
What else?
What Is The System?SYSTEM EXPLORATION

5. AOIFE FAHEY SYSTEMS THINKING - PROJECT 1 FEB 18 2017
SUPER-SYSTEM
The super-system that the honeybees are a part of is the local
eco-system. Honeybees are vitally important for the pollination of plants
that grow much of our fruits and vegetables. The honeybee usually
collects pollen from various flowers which helps with the cross
pollination that the plants need to produce viable seeds2
.
The pollinators and the plants have a very symbiotic relationship and
one cannot survive without the other.
SUB-SYSTEM
Each of the castes can be viewed as a sub-system. The worker bee
can be broken down into further sub-systems with the materials
produced as individual systems.
Each of the tasks that are neccessary to keep the hive operating can
be seen as a sub-system.
The structure of the hive can also be looked at as a sub-system. The
worker bees build different size cells to house drone, worker or queen
bees eggs. The queen will measure the cell with her antennae and
deposit the appropriate egg. There are also cells for storing food.
The communication methods of bees can be considered a
sub-system as well as how they forage for food and making honey.
There are many sub-systems to be found within a hive.
How bees see flowers - photo credit - Bjørn Rørslett

6. AOIFE FAHEY SYSTEMS THINKING - PROJECT 1 FEB 18 2017
Lorem
ipsum
dolor
sit
EUKARYOTA
ANIMALIA
ARTHROPODA
INSECTA
HYMENOPTERA
APIDAE
APIS
MELLIFERA
TAXONOMY OF HONEYBEES DESCRIPTION
A taxonomy is the categorisation system of living
systems in nature. The circles narrow down the
characteristics of each group until we get to the
species. The scientific name of the honeybee
species is Mellifera.
Each circle represents a system within a bigger
system. The boundary of each circle is:
Domain - cell structure and chemistry
Kingdom - developmental characteristics and
nutritional strategy
Phylum - key elements of arthropoda are: jointed
legs, exoskeleton, segmented body
Class - key elements of insecta are - 3 body parts,
6 legs
Order- key elements of hymenoptera are 2 pairs
of membranous wings, compound eyes, chewing
mouths, complete metamorphosis,
Family - key elements of Apidae are modified
mouthparts in the form of a tongue that enables
them to sip nectar, hairy legs and pollen baskets.
Genus - The nine honey bee species within the
genus Apis share many similar morphological,
behavioral and physiological traits.
Species - Apis Mellifera (Honeybees) only
reproduce with each other.

7. AOIFE FAHEY SYSTEMS THINKING - PROJECT 1 FEB 18 2017
STRUCTURE
The diagram shows the gestation period for the
different bees in a honeybee hive. The queen
bee can produce about 200,000 eggs each year.
She lays both fertilized and unfertilized eggs in
the hive. The fertilized eggs will be female and
the unfertilized eggs will be male. Queen bees
emerge after 16 days, workers after 21 days and
drones after 24 days.
BOUNDARY - Timeline, season, disease,
fertility, Hive, cells
INPUTS - The eggs
Food (honey, pollen, royal jelly)
OUTPUTS - Worker bees
Queen bee
Drones
INTERACTIONS/CONNECTIONS
The adult worker bees distribute food amoungst
the cells. A select few cells are fed only royal
jelly and they will become new queen bees. The
rest are fed royal jelly,
honey and nectar and will become worker bees
and drones. By manipulating the
environment of their offspring, honey bees ge-
netically alter their bodies via nutrition.3
QUEEN
BEE
FERTILIZED
FEMALE
EGG
UNFERTILIZED
MALE
EGG
DAY 1
DAY 3
DAY 8
DAY 9
DAY 10
DAY 16
DAY 21
DAY 24
FEMALE
LARVA
MALE
LARVA
FEMALE
PUPA
MALE
PUPA
FERTILIZED
FEMALE
EGG
FEMALE
LARVA
FEMALE
PUPA
QUEEN BEE
WORKER
BEE
DRONE
FED ROYAL JELLY
FED ROYAL JELLY,
HONEY & NECTAR
FAMILY TREE

8. AOIFE FAHEY SYSTEMS THINKING - PROJECT 1 FEB 18 2017
QUEEN BEE
Lives 2 - 7 years
Sole reproductive female in the Hive
Emits pheromones which are passed like messages
through the colony by bee-to-bee contact.
Lays up to 2,000 eggs a day in her prime
The queen bee usually leaves the colony a few days
after being hatched to mate. She flies out the a Drone
Congregation Area (DCA) where she can mate with up
to 30 drones from different hives.
The nupital flight is usually only done once a year.
WORKER BEE
Lives 6 weeks - 9 months (depending on time of year it hatches)
10,000 - 50,000 per hive
Carries out all the tasks to keep the hive thriving
Cannot mate or reproduce*
DRONE
Lives approx 50 days
100 - 500 per hive
Has no sting
The fastest drones mate with the queen
Drones will be refused entry or even killed by worker bees
during autumn and winter months.
BEHAVIOUR
The colony lives in a state of dynamic equilibrium which means that it can adapt to conditions of the environment. If some of the older
forager worker bees get killed by pesticides, then some younger workers will skip development stages to quickly become foragers in
order to take over the role.
The queen bee uses pheromones to communicate to the rest of the colony. There pheromones relay the health of the queen and once
the queen starts to get too old, the worker bees will start to build new queen bee cells to start the process for the next successor. All of
these actions emphasize the eusocial society of honeybees where the good of the colony is put above the individual needs.
HONEYBEE CASTES

9. AOIFE FAHEY SYSTEMS THINKING - PROJECT 1 FEB 18 2017
The materials that the worker bees are able to produce from their own
anatomy can be seen in a network structure. The bee is the hub that
links them all together.
Boundary - Bee’s body, season, age, time
WAX - Worker bees make wax by sythesizing the sugars in honey.
Each worker bee has four wax glands on their abdomen which devel-
op when they are a couple of weeks old.
NECTAR - Although nectar is a food the bees take from plants, they
store it in their honey stomach where enzymes are added that trans-
form its chemical composition and pH, making it more suitable for
long-term storage. Back at the hive the nectar is reguritated to
another worker before stored in a cell.
SILK - Honeybee silk is composed of four fibrous proteins. Honeybee
larvae produce silk to reinforce the wax cells in which they pupate.4
ROYAL JELLY - is a secretion from glands located at the top of the
worker bees head. It is made by the nursing worker bees to feed the
larvae. It typically contains about 60% to 70%
water, 12% to 15% proteins, 10% to 16% sugar, 3% to 6% fats, and
2% to 3% vitamins, salts, and amino acids. Its composition varies
depending on geography and climate.5
PROPOLIS - is made by mixing wax with saliva and sap or resin from
trees or plants. It is used as a glue or sealant for doing repairs in the
hive6
.
HONEY - The average honey is made up of water (17.2%) and
sugars(76.8%). The sugars being:
Fructose,Glucose, Maltose, Sucrose
The remaining elements (6%) are made up of acids, proteins, minerals
and other materials. 7
MATERIALS
PRODUCED
BY
WORKER BEE
SILK
WAX
NECTAR
HONEY
PROPOLIS
ROYAL
JELLY
NETWORK STRUCTURE

10. AOIFE FAHEY SYSTEMS THINKING - PROJECT 1 FEB 18 2017
EUSOCIALITY
Eusociality systems are recognised by 3 characteristics:
1. cooperative brood care
2. A division of labor
3. There is an overlapping of generations within the hive
The lone Queen bee is the only fertile female in the hive and her
sole task is reproduction. The drones are all male and their task is
to mate with the queen. There are usually a few hundred drones
in a hive during spring and early summer. The drones that mate
with the queen will die after mating and the others will be killed or
denied entry to the hive by the worker bees.
The hive is made up of thousands of worker bees all of which are
unfertiile females who carry out the tasks to keep the hive
functioning. The worker bees depend on the queen and drones for
reproduction and the survival of their hive but in turn, the queen
and drones are equally dependent on the worker bees for food and
keeping the hive functioning and protected.
During the winter months the hive downsizes in order to survive.
The worker bees will destroy any drone cells and kill and expel any
remaining drones. The majority of the worker bees will work
themselves to death foraging for food for the colonys survival
during winter. A small percentage of the younger generation of
worker bees will live in the colony during the winter months
tending to the queen.
Pollen & Nectar
Cleaning
Nursing & Feeding
Guarding
Building
Thermo regulation
& Mortuary
HETERARCHY OF WORKER BEE CHORES
HETERARCHY STRUCTURE
Boundary - Hive, season, weather, caste, age
The organisation of the workers bees chores within the hive is
unranked and it seems that the bees take on different roles as they
get older but all the chores are equally important to the success
of the hive. There seems to be an order to when the bees perform
tasks. They start with cleaning duties when they first emerge and
work up to feeding. Foraging for food is usally left to the older bees
but the hive lives in a state of dynamic equilibrium ready to adapt
to changing conditions for the survival of the colony.

11. AOIFE FAHEY SYSTEMS THINKING - PROJECT 1 FEB 18 2017
REFLECTIONS
The first impression when you look at a beehive is often one of
chaos and disorder. It is very hard to see a pattern at first but if you
take the time to really look, what you will see is a very organised
system.
It became apparent to me during this process that in order to
understand how the system works, I would have to understand
how the elements worked and in turn, what the relationships
between the different elements looked like. It was necessary to
break down the system into its parts, examine those parts and
then build it all back together to get a good understanding of how
it all worked together.
The eusocial society is an interesting topic to learn about.
Everything a bee does serves a purpose for the good of the
colony. This makes for an interesting study and comparison to
human society. What can we learn from this system to better our
own? I have noticed that it is hard to find flaws with living systems.
There is still much to learn about bees and how they
communicate throughout the colony. The communication is central
to how the system works and thrives and the more I learn about
honeybees the more curious I become. The patterns in their non
verbal communication is something that I am interested in learning
more about. I think that you could study this system for a long time
and constantly learn from it.

12. AOIFE FAHEY SYSTEMS THINKING - PROJECT 1 FEB 18 2017
REFERENCES
TITLE IMAGE: http://www.radionz.co.nz/assets/galleries/29872/full_Hivemind_remote_hive_measurement_(Supplied).jpg?1473886719
HOW BEES SEE FLOWERS - Bjørn Rørslett http://www.naturfotograf.com/uvstart.html
1, 7- A practical manual of beekeeping - David Cramp p.25, p.49
2 - http://www.canr.msu.edu/nativeplants/pollination/
3 - https://www.wired.com/2015/09/royal-jelly-isnt-makes-queen-bee-queen-bee/
4 - https://beeuorganics.wordpress.com/2012/12/22/how-bees-collect-nectar-to-make-honey/
5 - http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-503-royal%20jelly.aspx?activeingredientid=503
6 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propolis