Due to the recent influx of bee’s at our house, all trying to escape the cold, I figured I would do a “Study in Bee’s”.
There are nearly 20,000 known species of bee, in nine recognized families, though many are undescribed and the actual number is probably higher. They are found on every continent except Antarctica, in every habitat on the planet that contains insect-pollinated flowering plants.
-Bees fly an average of 13-15 mph.
-A bee travels an average of 1600 round trips in order to produce one ounce of honey; up to 6 miles per trip. To produce 2 pounds of honey, bees travel a distance equal to 4 times around the earth.
-Honeybees visit about 2 million flowers to make one pound of honey.
-During honey production periods, a bee’s life span is about 6 weeks.
-Just a single hive contains approximately 40-45,000 bees!
-Honeybees are the only insects that produce food for humans.
-About 8 pounds of honey is eaten by bees to produce 1 pound of beeswax.
-Beeswax production in most hives is about 1 1/2% to 2% of the total honey yield.
-The average hive temperature is 93.5 degrees.
-Queens will lay almost 2000 eggs a day at a rate of 5 or 6 a minute. Between 175,000-200,000 eggs are laid per year.
-Bees from the same hive visit about 225,000 flowers per day. One single bee usually visits between 50-1000 flowers a day, but can visit up to several thousand.
-Honeybees have hair on their eyes.
-A colony of bees have to fly almost fifty-five thousand miles and tap two million flowers to make one pound of honey.
-A honey bee strokes its wings about 11,500 times a minute.
-Bees can communicate with other bees by dancing. Their dance can alert other bees as to which direction and the distance nectar and pollen is located.
-It takes 12 honeybees to make one teaspoon of honey.
-In one day, a queen bee can lay up to 1500 eggs in one day.
-In a lifetime, on average a honey bee produces 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey.
-Honeybees use the sun as a compass which helps them navigate.
-A honey bee has four wings
-Honeybees are the only bees that die after they sting.
- Honeybees are entirely herbivorous when they forage for nectar and pollen, but can cannibalize their own brood when stressed.
- Honey speeds the healing process and combats infections.
- Honey never spoils.
- It would take about 1 ounce of honey to fuel a honeybee’s flight around the world.
- Honeybee colonies have unique odors that members flash like ID cards at the hive’s front door, so the guard bees can recognize the entering bees.
- Honeybees are responsible for the pollination of approx 80% of all fruit, vegetable and seed crops in the U.S.
C. Jeykumar of Dhalavaipuram, Tamil Nadu covered his entire body with 60,000 Italian honey bees for 24 hours from 12 noon on Sept 24 to 12 noon the following day. He also kept 175 bees in his open mouth for 3 min 7 sec. This exercise took place before the general public and Rotarians of Rajayapalayam.
This is a yellow jacket nest, I just thought it looked cool…
