Wonderful Facts About Honey Bees That Are Sure To Fascinate The Kids
Reading Time: 3 minutes, 25 seconds Post Views: 2052Honeybees are the lovely buzzing creatures & most important pollinators we share the planet with. Playing a huge role in pollinating flowers, fruits & vegetables that we eat, honey bees are extremely wonderful insects.
Being tremendously important for nature & the ecosystem, these buzzing beauties' population is decreasing rapidly. To save honey bees from extinction, it is necessary to understand & let future generations also know the importance of protecting these beneficial creatures.
Quick Glance at the Honey Bee Facts which Kids Must Know –
Characteristics of Honey Bees –
Honey bees have six legs & a three-part body as they belong to the insect family. Their short bodies are covered with hair that is different from the wasps. Honey bees have unique wings & small combs that are used to clean their antennae.
- Where Do Honey Bees Live?
Honey bees are found all around the world in more
than 20,000 species. As they require flowers to collect nectar, they are
generally found in large quantities near the flowering plants. They live in
large colonies or hives. The members of these hives are majorly divided into
three –
- Queens
- Worker bees
- Drones
2. Food of Honey Bees –
Honey bees mainly survive on the nectar & pollen collected from various flowers. In simple words, nectar is a sugary liquid that comes from the flowers & is the energy source for bees. On the other hand, Pollen is tiny granules obtained from the flowers & is the main source of food for baby honey bees called larvae.
3. How Honey Bees Find Flowers?
Honey bees can see & smell. They follow the
sense of smell to find the flowers from where they can collect the nectar.
These little creatures are attracted more towards vibrant colors like orange,
yellow, purple, and many more colors except red as this color is not visible to
them.
4. How Honey Bees Reproduce?
Only the queen bees lay eggs in a colony. In a specific season, a queen bee can lay over 25,000 lay eggs. Each egg is fertilized by the queen as soon as it is being laid. The non-fertilized egg, later on, develops into male drones.
5. Do Honey Bees Have Predators?
Some birds, small mammals, reptiles & insects
like dragonflies usually hunt for honey bees. Large mammals like bears destroy
beehives to eat the honey collected by bees in the hives.
6. How Are Honey Bee Hives Protected?
Honey bees tend to build their hives at a place that is not easily accessible. Building their homes at a higher place or secret spots lowers the predators' chances of getting attacked. Apart from this, another way adopted by honey bees to save their bee colonies is stinging. Female bees use the stinger at the end of their body to save themselves from the things that threaten them.
However, certain species of honey bees die after
stinging as their stingers are attached to the abdomen. Once these bees fly
after stinging, part of their abdomen is ripped off, resulting in death.
7. Some Other Interesting Facts –
- Honeybees have species known as killer bees that can chase people for over ¼ mile if they are aggressive or excited.
- Smoke is always used by the beekeepers to calm the honey bees while relocating or harvesting the honey.
- Worker honey bees travel from over 50-100 flowers in one trip.
- Being a great flyer, honey bees can fly at a speed of 25km per hour and beat their wings 200 times per second.
As pollinators, honey bees have a strong influence in each part of the environment. They uphold the development of trees, blossoms, and different plants. Honey bees add to unpredictable, interconnected biological systems that permit various species to co-exist.
There is no questioning the significance of honey bees to our food supply. Without them, the nurseries would be bare and our food plates. Geohoney focuses on saving the environment & work on cherishing the sacrifice of thousands of bees that made super delicious natural sweetener for us!
Comments (2)
well written, keep it up!
I always read Geohoney\'s blogs.