Amazzzzing facts about the honeybee…

 

WORKER bees are all female and do most of the work and are the only bees most people will see.  They are assigned jobs based on their age.

• 1-2 days old-they clean the cells and keep the brood warm.
• 3-5 days-they feed older larvae.
• 6-11 days-they feed the youngest larvae.
• 12-17 days-they produce wax, build comb, carry food and carry out dead bees.
• 18-21 days-they perform guard duty, protecting the hive entrance.
• 22-45 days-they fly from the hive to collect pollen, nectar, water and pollinate plants.

The QUEEN’s primary job is to lay eggs.  She mates only once then will lay up to 2,000 eggs every day.  There is only one queen in a hive and she will live for 2-4 years.  If she dies, the workers will create a new queen by feeding a chosen worker female “royal jelly” which develops her into a fertile queen bee.  The queen also controls the hive’s activities by producing chemicals that serve as instruction for the other bees.

The DRONES are the male bees.  Numbering only in the hundreds in a single hive, their only job is to be available to mate in case a new queen is needed.  In the wintertime the drone bees are usually forced out of the hive because food is scarce.

The honeybee hive is perennial. Although quite inactive during the winter, the honeybee survives the winter months by clustering for warmth. By self-regulating the internal temperature of the cluster, the bees maintain 93 degrees Fahrenheit in the center of the winter cluster (regardless of the outside temperature).A healthy mature hive will contain 50,000-60,000 honeybees.

Honeybees are not native to the USA. They are European in origin, and were brought to North America by the early settlers.

Honeybees are not aggressive by nature, and will not sting unless protecting their hive from an intruder or are unduly provoked.

The practice of honey collection and beekeeping dates back to the stone-age, as evidenced by cave paintings.

Honey will never spoil.  It was discovered in Egyptian tombs dating back 2,000 years and found to be unspoiled.

Honeybees are the ONLY insects that produce food eaten by humans.

80% of the U.S. crop pollinators are honeybees.

A honeybee’s wings beat 11,400 times per minute.  This makes the distinctive buzzing sounds and is how they heat and cool their hives.

2,000,000 flowers are visited to make a single pound of honey.

Honeybees will fly up to 3 miles to collect pollen and nectar for the hive.

Honeybees communicate with each other by “dancing” various complex aerial maneuvers.

Honey is the only food that has all the life substances: enzymes, water, minerals, vitamins.