Bees

Friends and Pests!

Some general facts about bees:

1. Smoke calms bees down. When beekeepers need to get the honey or to relocate the hive they need to throw smoke on the bees to calm them down.
2. Bees see all colours except red.
3. Killer bees chase people when they are excited and aggressive they can keep chasing them for about 250m.
4. The bees make honey to feed their young and to have food for winter.
5. The Queen bee is chosen by the worker bees when she is still in the larva stage. She is fed a special type of honey called Royal Jelly.
6. The stinger of a bee forms part of the abdomen (belly). The stinger of some species is covered with tiny hooks known as barbs. Some species (types) of bees die after they sting something once. This is because their abdomen rips apart when their stinger gets stuck after a sting.     
7. Bees live in groups called colonies. The colony is made of the Queen bee, the workers and the drones. The Queen and the workers are female while the drones are male. Only the Queen lays eggs. The workers take care of the larvae and also clean the hive. 

The honeybee

1.  The honeybees live in big colonies. 
2. They live longer than other bees because they eat more honey during winter and they also huddle up during cold months to keep warm.
3. The stinger of the honeybee has barbs. It can sting something once because its stinger gets stuck and breaks.
4. Their wings flap 11,000 times per minute. That is why it sounds like they are "buzzing". 
5. Honeybees are very important for pollination. They can pollinate many different crops.