By
Ify Mgbemena
Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey.
Bees feed on nectar and pollen, the former primarily as an energy source and the latter primarily for protein and other nutrients.
However, bee pollination is important both ecologically and commercially, and the decline in wild bees has increased the value of pollination by commercially managed hives of honey bees.
Here are some facts.
* Did you know that a single bee has 5 eyes! and yes honey bees never sleep!
* Did you know that approximately 75% of the world’s food crops depend on pollination by pollinators such as bees etc.
* The reason bees are so noisy is because they beat their wings 11,400 times in one minute!
* Interestingly, bees live less than 40 days, visit over 1000 flowers and make an average of 1/12 teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.
* A honey bee can fly up to 15 miles per hour.
* One ounce of honey would fuel a bees flight around the world. To make one pound of honey, workers in a hive fly 55,000 miles and tap two million flowers.
* Did you know that a single worker bee can visit up to 5,000 flowers in a day in many kilometers collecting pollen?
* Did you know that having your hive in such a bright colour attracts the bees? That is why you will find hives painted in bright colours.
* Yes! only female bees can sting. Male bees don’t have stingers.
* Did you know that queen bees are responsible for expanding the colony and as a result they lay up to 2000 eggs a day?
* Interestingly, each Honey Bee from the same hive has their own specific color identification.
* Sadly! worker bees are females that are not capable of reproducing. They do all the work in the hive, and they control most of what goes on inside. Their jobs include housekeeping, feeding the queen, drones and larvae, collecting the pollen and nectar, and making the wax.
* However, the Honey Bee is the only insect that makes food man can eat.
* Bees can smell hundreds of floral varieties and identify pollen from miles away!
* Bees can sense the hormone a human gives off when they’re scared. If they feel their hive is threatened they’ll attack.