Gujarat Board | Class 10Th | English (Blackbuck-Supplementary Reader) | Model Question Paper & Solution | Chapter – 9 Wonderful Workers

1. The queen bee is nearly 2.5 times longer and 2.8 times heavier than a worker bee. Her function is reproduction. She lays 1000 to 2000 fertilized eggs every day. Some of the eggs will develop into worker bees or into queens. But this depends on the size of the wax cell in which eggs are laid and on the type of food given to the larvae. The queen also lays unfertilized eggs from which only drones develop. The bees cannot live long without a queen. So when the queen dies, the bees choose some three-day-old eggs and hatch them. From that pearl-like egg a larva comes out. It is taken to a big wax cell and fed with royal jelly. Therefore it develops into a queen.

(1) What is the size of the queen bee compared to the worker bee?

(2) What is the function of the queen bee ?

(3) How many fertilized eggs does the queen bee lay every day?

(4) What do the eggs develop into?

(5) Some eggs develop into worker bees or queens. What does this depend on?

(6) From what do drones develop?

(7) When the queen dies, …..

(8) What do the drones do with the larva ?

(1) The queen bee is nearly 2.5 times longer and 2.8 times heavier than a worker bee.

(2) The function of the queen bee is reproduction.

(3) The queen lays 1000 to 2000 fertilized eggs every day.

(4) The eggs develop into worker bees or into queens.

(5) This depends on the size of the wax cell in which eggs are laid and on the type of food given to the larvae.

(6) Drones develop from the unfertilized eggs laid by the queen.

(7) When the queen dies, the bees choose some three-day-old eggs and hatch them.

(8) Drones take the larva to a big wax cell and feed it with royal jelly so that it develops into a queen bee.

2. Worker bees spend their whole short lives in tireless labour. They have no childhood. From the third day of their life they have to clean the walls and floors after the young bees go out. From the fourth day they become ‘house bees’ and feed other bees with honey and pollen. From the seventh day they start producing royal jelly. From 12th to 18th days they develop wax glands and work on the building up of the honeycomb. From 15th to 18th days they become field bees. Now they fly to explore and collect nectar and pollen. They collect large quantities of pollen, make it wet with saliva, mix nectar into it. Then they place it in special hollows or ‘baskets’ in their hind legs. Two baskets contain around four lakh grains of pollen! In those baskets or ‘honey stomachs’ excess water is absorbed.

(1) Why do the worker bees have no childhood?

(2) What do the worker bees do from the third day of their life?

(3) What do they do from the fourth day?

(4) What do they do from the seventh day?

(5) What do the worker bees do from the 12th to 18th day?

(6) What do they do from the 15th to 18th day?

(7) What do they do after collecting pollen?

(8) What do the honey stomachs do?

(9) How many grains of pollen are stored in two baskets?

(1) The worker bees have no childhood because they spend their whole short lives in tireless labour.

(2) From the third day of their life, the worker bees clean the walls and floors after the young bees go out.

(3) From the fourth day, they become ‘house bees’ and feed other bees with honey and pollen.

(4) From the seventh day they start producing royal jelly.

(5) From 12th to 18th day, the worker bees the develop wax glands and work on building up of the honeycomb.

(6) From 15th to 18th day, they become field bees and fly to explore and collect nectar and pollen.

(7) After collecting pollen, they make it wet with saliva, mix nectar into it and place it in special hollows or ‘baskets’ in their hind legs.

(8) Honey stomachs absorb the excess water from the pollen and nectar.

(9) Around four lakh grains of pollen are stored in two baskets.

3. The explorer bees tell their sisters about direction and distance of flowers through definite movements which we can call ‘dances’. A round dance suggests that the flowers are quite near. The shuffle dance suggests that the bees should be ready for a long flight. Certain other movements are also used to indicate even the direction of the nectar source of flowers.

Now let’s look into their eyes. Bees have five eyes two compound ones and three simple ones. The surface of a compound eye of a worker bee has nearly 5000 hexagonal facets, whereas drones have about 8000. But surprisingly bees are poor in identifying colours. They can identify blue, yellow and white colours only. They cannot see the red colour at all!

(1) What do the explorer bees indicate through dances?

(2) What does a round dance suggest?

(3) What does a shuffle dance suggest?

(4) How many eyes do the bees have?

(5) What do you know about a compound eye of a worker bee?

(6) What do you know about a compound eye of a drone?

(7) Which colours can the bees identify?

(8) Which colour can the bee not see at all?

(1) The explorer bees indicate the direction and distance of flowers through dances.

(2) A round dance suggests that the flowers are quite near.

(3) A shuffle dance suggests that the bees should be ready for a long flight.

(4) The bees have five eyes: two compound eyes and three simple eyes.

(5) The surface of a compound eye of a worker bee has nearly 5000 hexagonal facets.

(6) The surface of a compound eye of a drone has nearly 8000 hexagonal facets.

(7) The bees can identify blue, yellow and white colours.

(8) The bees cannot see the red colour at all.

A. selection

B. part

C. separate

D. class

Ans. B. part

A. selection

B. election

C. use

D. job

Ans. D. job

A. gather

B. mix

C. combine

D. call

Ans. A. gather

A. run on

B. run into

C. run before

D. run after

Ans. D. run after

A. full

B. empty

C. place

D. blank

Ans. C. place