Country Life Creatures Animal Charm Page

BEES

Honey bees represent only a small fraction of the roughly 20,000 known species of bees. Honey bees live in hives (or colonies). The members of the hive are divided into three types: Queen, Worker and Drone. There is one Queen Bee who runs the whole hive. Her job is to lay between 600 or up to 1,500 eggs each day during her 3 or 4 year lifetime. This daily egg production may equal her own weight. The Drone Bees are male bees, and their purpose is to mate with the new queen. She is constantly fed and groomed by attendant worker bees. The Worker Bees are all female and their roles are to forage for food (pollen and nectar from flowers), build and protect the hive, clean and circulate air by beating their wings. The honeybee never sleeps. Honey bees fly at 15 miles per hour. Their wings stroke 11,400 times per minute, thus making their distinctive buzz sound. Honeybees have five eyes, 3 small ones on top of the head and two big ones in front. Honeybees are the only insect that produce food for humans.

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