Bee Fact File Honey bees have 6 legs

Bee Fact File

Honey bees have 6 legs, 2 compound eyes made up of thousands of tiny lenses (one on each side of the head), 3 simple eyes on the top of the head, 2 pairs of wings, a nectar pouch, and a stomach.

The honey bee has been around for millions of years. If all the bees dies out we would lose many of the beautiful plants and flowers that we see today. We would also lose a lot of the foods that we eat such as apples, watermelon and oranges.

Honey bees live in hives (or colonies). The members of the hive are divided into three types: • Queen: One queen runs the whole hive. Her job is to lay the eggs. • Workers: these are all female and their roles are to forage for food (pollen and nectar from flowers), build and protect the hive, clean and circulate air by beating their wings. Workers are the only bees most people ever see flying around outside the hive. • Drones: These are the male bees, and their purpose is to mate with the new queen. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

If the queen bee dies, workers will create a new queen by selecting a young larva (the newly hatched baby insects) and feeding it a special food called “royal jelly“. Only worker bees sting, and only if they feel threatened and they die once they sting. Queens have a stinger, but they don't leave the hive to help defend it. It is estimated that 1100 honey bee stings are required to be fatal.

Honey bees are brilliant boogiers! To share information about the best food sources, they perform their ‘waggle dance’. When the worker returns to the hive, it moves in a figure-of-eight and waggles its body to indicate the direction of the food source. Each bee has 170 odorant receptors, which means they have one serious sense of smell! Each honey bee colony has a unique odour for members' identification.

Each bee has 170 odorant receptors, which means they have one serious sense of smell! Each honey bee colony has a different smell.

Honey bees are super-important pollinators for flowers, fruits and vegetables. This means that they help other plants grow! Bees transfer pollen between the male and female parts, allowing plants to grow seeds and fruit. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

What are these buzzing bugs most famous for? Delicious honey! But did you know they produce honey as food stores for the hive during winter? Luckily for us, these efficient little workers produce 2 -3 time more honey than they need, so we get to enjoy the tasty treat, too! . This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Honey bees are fab flyers. They fly at a speed of around 25 km per hour and beat their wings 200 times per second! A hive of bees will fly 90, 000 miles, the equivalent of three orbits around the earth to collect honey. .

Sadly, over the past 15 years, colonies of bees have been disappearing, and the reason remains unknown In some regions, up to 90% of bees have disappeared!

What have we learned about Bees today?

1. The honey bee has been around for millions of years. 2. A hive includes a Queen bee, workers and drones. 3. Worker bees are always female and are the only ones that sting. 4. To talk to each other bees will do a special dance. 5. A bee uses its sense of smell to find its hive. 6. Bees are the only insects that made food humans can eat. 7. They are amazing flyers and beat their wings 200 times a second. 8. Honey bees across the world are leaving their hives, never to return. 9. In some regions, up to 90% of bees have disappeared!

Can you make a fact file about Bees? On the next slide there is an example of a fact file. Write 3 of your favourite facts and draw a picture. Remember to put in lots of detail in your picture.

Bee Fact File • 1. • 2 • 3