Bees have 2 stomachs – a honey stomach used like a nectar backpack when flying from
flower to flower; and their regular stomach used to digest food.
The bee’s anatomy:
The bee’s anatomy:
- Six (6) legs – the rear pair are specifically designed with stiff hairs to store pollen when flying from flower to flower; the front pair has slots for cleaning their antenna.
- Four (4) wings – the front and rear wings hook together to form one big pair of wings and unhook for easy folding when not flying.
- Five (5) eyes – 2 larger compound eyes and 3 simple ocelli eyes in the center of their head.
There are 20,000 species of bees, but only four produce honey
Honey is the only food that never spoils. Still-sealed honey has been found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs by archeologists and proven to be edible.
Where did the term “honeymoon” come from?
Honey is the only food that never spoils. Still-sealed honey has been found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs by archeologists and proven to be edible.
Where did the term “honeymoon” come from?
- An ancient Northern European custom for newly weds was to drink a daily cup of mead (wine with a honey base) for one full phase of the moon (1 lunar month). This was done because honey was believed to make a woman more fertile.
A hive will generally start with approximately 10,000 bees, and will grow to as much as 50,000 – 60,000 during peak harvest season (late July – early August). Within the hive, honey bees enlist a caste system in order to accomplish the tasks necessary to maintain a colony – queen, workers (females) and drones (males)
Every honey bees passes through four distinct life stages: the egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The process is called complete metamorphosis.
Queen Bee
Drone Bee
Worker Bee:
Every honey bees passes through four distinct life stages: the egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The process is called complete metamorphosis.
Queen Bee
- The only difference between the queen bee and the other worker bees is a difference in diet. A queen bee more heavily consumes royal jelly, which is a protein-rich secretion (creamy white color) from glands on the heads of young workers.
- The queen may lay 600 to 800 or even 1,500 eggs each day during her three or four year lifetime.
- A queen bee’s productive life span is between 1-2 years before she is replaced.
- The queen can choose which gender of egg to lay. She makes the decision based on the size of the cell as well as the colony’s needs.
Drone Bee
- Drones’ only role in the hive is to mate with the queen.
- After a drone mates with the queen, he dies
- Because drones only eat and mate, they are “asked to leave” during the Fall and Winter months in order to preserve honey supplies in the hive.
- It takes 21 days for worker bees to develop from an egg to an adult. The total lifespan is only 4-6 weeks.
Worker Bee:
- The worker bee is responsible for the bulk of the work in the hive.
- Duties of the worker bee:
- Day 1-2: Cleans cells and keeps the brood warm
- Day 3-5: Feeds older larvae
- Day 6-11: Feeds youngest larvae
- Day 12-17: Produces wax, builds comb, carries food, undertaker duties
- Day 18-21: Guards the hive entrance
- Day 22+: Flying from hive begins, pollinates plants, collects pollen, nectar, and water
Honeybees fly at a speed of 15 miles per hour.
Honeybees’ wings stroke 11,400 times per minute, which causes their distinctive buzz.
Honeybees pollinate about 80 percent of all fruit, vegetable and seed crops in the U.S.
A honeybee will visit 50 to 100 flowers on a single trip out of the hive.
Bees fly about 55,000 miles to make just one pound of honey, that’s 1˝ times around the world!
After a worker bee returns to the hive from foraging, it will perform a dance to indicate to other bees the exact location of the nectar. The dance is called the “waggle dance”, and it consists of one to 100 or more circuits, each of which consists of two phases: the waggle phase and the return phase. The direction and duration of waggle runs are closely correlated with the direction and distance of the patch of flowers being advertised by the dancing bee.
A single honeybee will only produce approximately 1/12 teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.
Bees produce honey as food stores for the hive during the long months of winter.
Studies show that bee venom from bee stings helps combat arthritis. In fact, it is commonly used in Asia and Europe as the best means to treat arthritis. This doesn’t mean you should go mess with a hive!!!
The oldest recorded honeybee is said to have been over 45 million years old, incased in petrified amber and nearly unchanged from how it looks today.
Honeybees’ wings stroke 11,400 times per minute, which causes their distinctive buzz.
Honeybees pollinate about 80 percent of all fruit, vegetable and seed crops in the U.S.
A honeybee will visit 50 to 100 flowers on a single trip out of the hive.
Bees fly about 55,000 miles to make just one pound of honey, that’s 1˝ times around the world!
After a worker bee returns to the hive from foraging, it will perform a dance to indicate to other bees the exact location of the nectar. The dance is called the “waggle dance”, and it consists of one to 100 or more circuits, each of which consists of two phases: the waggle phase and the return phase. The direction and duration of waggle runs are closely correlated with the direction and distance of the patch of flowers being advertised by the dancing bee.
A single honeybee will only produce approximately 1/12 teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.
Bees produce honey as food stores for the hive during the long months of winter.
Studies show that bee venom from bee stings helps combat arthritis. In fact, it is commonly used in Asia and Europe as the best means to treat arthritis. This doesn’t mean you should go mess with a hive!!!
The oldest recorded honeybee is said to have been over 45 million years old, incased in petrified amber and nearly unchanged from how it looks today.
Bees communicate by releasing aromatic chemicals, called pheromones, which can
change the physiology and behavior of other bees. A bee possesses 15 pheromonal
glands. After a bee stings you, for example, pheromones are released, and other bees
will detect danger and will in turn also become aggressive. Pheromones are also helpful for “babysitter” bees to take care of their brood (bees in an early stage of development). The pheromones signal how hungry a bee is, its stage of development, as well as other information necessary to raising the young. A bee from another colony or hive will release foreign pheromones, and therefore the guard bees from the colony will immediately know there is an intruder.
When a beekeeper needs to inspect a bee hive, he or she "smokes" the hive. When smoke reaches the bees, they become non aggressive. This effect is likely due to one of two reasons. 1) It’s a defense mechanism; wild colonies generally live in hollow trees, and when bees detect smoke, presumably, they prepare to evacuate from a forest fire, carrying as much food reserve as they can. In order to do this, they will go to the nearest honey storage cells and gorge on honey. This state causes the bees to become quite docile since defense from predation is relatively unimportant compared to the more important task of saving as much honey as possible. Or 2) the smoke dilutes the smell of the pheromones (an aromatic chemical bees use to communicate), preventing the bees from sensing aggression and causing them to enter a state of confusion.
A “swarm” is a honey bee colony in search of a nesting site, usually after leaving a hive. Though they may seem intimidating, swarms are not normally aggressive.
A bee hive is the most sterile environment in nature.
When a beekeeper needs to inspect a bee hive, he or she "smokes" the hive. When smoke reaches the bees, they become non aggressive. This effect is likely due to one of two reasons. 1) It’s a defense mechanism; wild colonies generally live in hollow trees, and when bees detect smoke, presumably, they prepare to evacuate from a forest fire, carrying as much food reserve as they can. In order to do this, they will go to the nearest honey storage cells and gorge on honey. This state causes the bees to become quite docile since defense from predation is relatively unimportant compared to the more important task of saving as much honey as possible. Or 2) the smoke dilutes the smell of the pheromones (an aromatic chemical bees use to communicate), preventing the bees from sensing aggression and causing them to enter a state of confusion.
A “swarm” is a honey bee colony in search of a nesting site, usually after leaving a hive. Though they may seem intimidating, swarms are not normally aggressive.
A bee hive is the most sterile environment in nature.
Our Mission
Located in Long Beach, Mississippi, The Bee's Knees is dedicated to harvesting and producing the highest quality of 100% pure honey with an ongoing commitment to environmental awareness. As we grow, our company will continue to innovate new ideas and products while adhering to the company's ethical values and philanthropic beliefs of giving back to the community.
Located in Long Beach, Mississippi, The Bee's Knees is dedicated to harvesting and producing the highest quality of 100% pure honey with an ongoing commitment to environmental awareness. As we grow, our company will continue to innovate new ideas and products while adhering to the company's ethical values and philanthropic beliefs of giving back to the community.
