Bees are disappearing: Bees are absolutely essential for our food-production system. Here are a dozen mind-blowing facts about bees.
Whether you’re fascinated by bees or terrified of them, you enjoy the fruits of their labor: Bees play a vital role in our ecosystem by pollinating plants. Honeybees pollinate $15 billion worth of US food crops a year; one-third of everything Americans eat comes from pollinators like honey bees.
Unfortunately, bees’ numbers are declining. Researchers from the University of Maryland reported last month that about 40% of the US’ honeybee colonies died between October 2018 and April 2019 — the highest winter loss in 13 years. Another recent study found similar problems in the UK: One-third of 353 wild bee and hoverfly species there experienced declines between 1980 and 2013. These losses are primarily due to decreasing crop diversity, poor beekeeping practices, pesticides, and loss of habitat (caused by human activity and climate change).
Here are 12 things you probably didn’t know about bees.
The oldest bee fossil is 100 million years old.Researchers from Oregon State University found a bee fossil in Myanmar’s Hukawng Valley that dates back 100 million years. The bee fossil was preserved in amber and is believed to be one of the oldest fossils on record.
There are more than 20,000 species of bees.A bee is defined as any member of the suborder Apocrita, which includes honeybees, bumblebees, and many other fly-like and wasp-like creatures.
In the US, there are more than 100,000 beekeepers.Today, there are between 115,000 and 125,000 beekeepers in the US. Honey is produced in every state,with North Dakota, Montana, South Dakota, Florida, and California the top honey-producing states.
Bees may be able to differentiate between different human faces.Researchers were able to train bees to differentiate between a set of human faces with close-together features and a set with more spread-out features.
Bees are the state insect of 16 US states, including Arkansas and Wisconsin.Of 48 US states that have an official state insect, 16 honor bees with that distinction. In Utah, Honey bees the state insect, and Utah’s nickname is the “Beehive State.”
Bees communicate via their movements.Honeybees communicate with each other via physical movements like head butts, which researchers say could mean “stop,” and waggle dances that signal where the nest is.
A queen bee can live up to five years.With a lifespan of up to five years, queen honeybees live far longer than worker or drone honey bees. Workers, by contrast, live for just five or six weeks.
Queen honey bees lay up to 2,000 eggs per day.A queen honeybee is generally the only fertile female in a hive. She can lay up to 2,000 eggs daily.
Each individual worker honeybee makes only a tiny bit of honey in its life.The average worker bee makes just one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey over its entire lifespan.
Bees produce substances other than honey.They secrete beeswax from abdominal glands, and use it to build honeycomb. They also create “bee bread,” or edible pollen, which is a blend of pollen and honey. They can also make a gluey substance called propolis.
Worker honeybees can fly up to 20 miles per hour (32 kilometers per hour).On their return flights to the nest, when they’re carrying nectar, pollen, or water, they travel more slowly.
Bee colonies around the world are disappearing. A study published in the journal Science found that climate change has lead to reductions in the geographic range of bumblebees in North America and Europe. Some bees’ ranges shrunk by up to 186 miles (300 kilometers).
Who are bee’s favorite entertainers? Bee yonce, Bee Gees and Sting