Bees & Wasps Facts
- Brains of bees are the size of a sesame seed, which is about 20,000 times smaller then the human brain.
- Honeybees have to consume about 8 pounds of honey to produce one pound of beeswax.
- Bees will travel up to 3 miles from their hive in search of food.
- Honeybees are responsible for pollinating approximately 80% of all fruit, vegetable and seed crops in the United States.
- The only bees that die after they sting are honeybees.
- Wasps on the other hand are able to sting repeatedly.
- Bees can count to four.
- Bees communicate with each other by dancing and by using pheromones.
- Female yellow jacket workers develop from the fertilized egg and male drones develop from the unfertilized egg.
- Bees are part of the third largest insect order, which also includes wasps and ants.
- Honeybees fly at 15 miles per hour.
- Bee stings actually cause several deaths in the United States each year.
- There are 3 kinds of bees in the hive, queen, worker, and drone.
- The honeybee queen may lay up to 1,500 eggs each day during her lifetime.
- Bees can recognize individual faces.
- Honeybees never sleep.