Honeybees

Honeybees are some of the most important insects on Earth. They make honey and beeswax in their hives. Honeybees also pollinate many of the fruits and vegetables that people eat. A single hive can have up to 60,000 bees working together.

Life in the Hive

Every hive has one queen bee who lays all the eggs. Worker bees are all female and do jobs like collecting nectar and guarding the hive. Male bees are called drones. The bees communicate by dancing to tell each other where to find the best flowers.

Making Honey

Bees collect nectar from flowers and carry it back to the hive. They pass the nectar to other bees who chew it and store it in honeycomb cells. Then they fan it with their wings to dry it out. The finished honey can last for thousands of years without going bad.

Fun Facts

• A single bee visits between 50 and 1,000 flowers in one trip.
• Honey never spoils. Edible honey has been found in 3,000-year-old Egyptian tombs.
• Bees must visit about 2 million flowers to make one pound of honey.

Did You Know?

Honeybees pollinate about one-third of all the food we eat! Without bees, we would lose many fruits, nuts, and vegetables.