Top 20 Facts You Need To Know About Bees

3. Bees Are Economical Builders

Bees are considered as the most economical builders that exist in nature. Pappus, the Greek mathematician, argued that honeycombs were nature’s most practical structure. Another mathematician, Thomas Hales, wrote an incredible mathematical proof which shows that honeycombs utilize the least amount of wax of all the probable structures. Apart from that, honeycombs have walls which meet at an accurate 120-degree angle or a perfect hexagon.

4. Bees Are Hard Workers

Worker bees work themselves to death. During chillier seasons, they can last for nine months, but during summer, their lifespan can last only for six weeks.

5. Bees Do Not Sleep

Bees do not sleep. But to preserve their energy, they do stay motionless. Furthermore, unlike many other insects and animals, bees do not hibernate during the winter. They cluster together and use their bodies to produce heat and keep the colony warm.

6. Bees Alter Their Brain Chemistry When They Change Jobs

Bees are born with specific roles and are hardwired to perform their jobs. Scout bees are wired for adventure and their job is to look for new food sources. Soldier bees work as security guards. Regular honeybees, on the other hand, handle many different jobs throughout their lifetime. What is interesting is that before taking up a new job, they alter their brain chemistry.

7. Bees Offers Medicinal Benefits

Bees utilizes a resin from propolis, an evergreen tree, to reinforce their hives. It is a beehive glue. But for humans, such glue can be used to fight off fungi, bacteria, and viruses. Research even found out that propolis that is taken from a hive may relieve herpes, eczema, sore throat, cavities, and canker sores.

8. Bees Get Buzzed From Cocaine & Caffeine

Caffeine is not only helpful to humans. It also helps bees remember where a flower is located so they can visit it again. This is according to scientists at Newcastle University. Caffeine can generally make bees become better workers. Cocaine, on the other hand, turns bees into big fat liars. Bees communicate through dancing. When they are high, they usually exaggerate their moves.

9. A Bee Colony Can Fly A Huge Cumulative Distance

The distance that each bee flies throughout their lifetime is simply incredible. They can fly as far as five miles. A strong colony, up to 60,000 bees, flies with a cumulative distance equivalent to the distance from the earth to the moon. Normally, a worker bee can fly for about 15-20 mph to the food source and around 12 mph when returning with the pollen, nectar, water, or propolis.

10. Bees Help Create Jobs

An average American consumes about 1.51 pounds of honey every year. Furthermore, the Department of Agriculture in the U.S. estimates that bees pollinate up to eighty percent of the insect crops or crops which is worth more than $15 billion yearly.

11. Their Brains Age In Reverse

Scientists at Arizona State University found out that when aging bees handle or do the jobs typically reserved for the younger members of their colony, the aging of their brain stops. Scientists believe that this discovery can aid them in slowing the onset of dementia.

12. They Can Solve Mathematical Problems

Bees are not just hard workers but also witty creatures. They can solve the so-called “traveling salesman problem” or the shortest distance that you can travel while visiting several separate locations. Royal Holloway University in London’s researchers found out that bumblebees find and fly the shortest possible route between flowers.

13. Bees Help Police Find & Catch Serial Killers

Scientists from Queen Mary, University of London studied bee behavior and their findings enhanced computer models that police utilize to locate felons. Scientists believe that the way the bees, specifically the bumblebees, search for food could aid detectives in hunting down serial killers.

14. Bees Use Sun As Their Compass

If the sun is the source of light for us humans, the sun serves as a compass for bees. But what happens when it’s cloudy? Well, they find their way through the aid of polarized light. They use special photoreceptors to locate the sun’s place.

15. The Popular Bumblebee Was Originally Called Humblebee

Bumblebee is perhaps one of the most famous bees these days. They appear in various movies and catch the attention of many movie lovers. But did you know that bumblebee is originally called "humblebees?" They are called so not because they are humble but simply because they hum when they fly. Their name was changed in the 20th century.

16. Honey Bees Die When They Sting

When a honey bee stings you, they are making a huge sacrifice. When a bee stings a human, its barbed stinger usually sticks to the skin. So when the bee pulls their stingers back out, the stinger itself along with their digestive tract, abdomen, muscles, as well as nerves are left behind. This causes a massive abdominal rupture which causes the death of the bee.

17. Bees Have Four Wings, Six Legs, & Five Eyes

A honey bee may appear only to have one huge pair of wings but if you take a closer look, you’ll find four wings. The rear and front wings hook together to create one huge pair of wings. When they are not flying, they unhook their wings for easy folding. They also have a total of six legs. Their rear legs have stiff pollens which are used to store pollen when they fly from one flower to another. Their front legs, on the other hand, have special slots to allow them to clean their antenna. What is more incredible is that these incredible creatures have five eyes. They have three smaller ocelli eyes found in the center of their head and two huge compound eyes.

18. One Bee Hive Can Produce Up To 27 kg Of Honey

A bee colony stays active during winter. They cluster together and stays active to remain warm. This is why they store more food during the summer so they can have enough supply when the weather gets too cold. To survive an average winter, a hive will only need about 20 to 30 lb of honey. But they can store more if there is a bigger space, which is what beekeepers usually look for so they can also get more honey.

One hive is capable of producing 27 kilograms or even more of honey when the season is good while the average hive can generate about the 11kg surplus.

19. Bees Do Not Miss The Honey That Is Taken From Them By Humans

If you love honey and feel guilty about taking the food from the bees, you should not worry. A strong colony of bees can produce two or three times more honey than they need. If needed, beekeepers can provide sugar syrup to the bees when they lose supply of honey.

If there is a colony of bees in your place, there are honey and you want to get it off, reach out to a reliable pest control company.

20. Bees Can See Colors

The eyes of the bees are sensitive to ultraviolet (UV) and the light spectrum’s blue end. Flowers reflect the massive amount of UV light and will appear bright to bees. These buzzing insects, however, are completely red blind.