Did you know that honey bees have stinky feet? Or that they know how to shake their booty and boogie? These pollinators are more than what they appear!
In this article, we’re taking beekeeping back to its roots with fun facts and insights about the majestic bee. Some of these honey bee facts are un-bee-lievable!
At West River Exchange, we’re delighted to share the awe-inspiring, interesting, and downright silly side of bees. Let’s buzz to it!
Embark on a Buzzworthy Explanation of Bee Facts
A beehive is a fascinating place; bees are wonderful creatures with wild habits and abilities. Check out the best bee information below to learn more!
Super Bees: Unbelievable Abilities of Our Buzzing Friends
Forget Captain America—the true American superhero is the humble bee! These little guys are capable of some amazing feats.
Here are some incredible facts about bee capabilities, such as their:
- Phenomenal flying speed: A worker bee’s average flight speed is 15 miles per hour and they can fly up to 20 miles per hour when not carrying nectar or other supplies.
- Distance covered for nectar collection: Bees are clever. They won’t waste energy buzzing around to find nectar if it’s right outside the hive. However, if needed, a single bee can fly up to 7 miles from the hive in search of a food source. For reference, most worker bees are around 12–15 mm long. Talk about some long-distance runners!
- Intricate “waggle dance”: It took researchers years to figure out that the little dance bees do with each other is actually a form of communication. They perform to communicate nectar locations. The honey bee is the only bee that wiggles all around to chat. The bumblebee and carpenter bee don’t have this body-shaking skill.
We bow down to the power of the mighty bee!
Nature’s Architects: The Ingenious Hive Constructions of Bees
Have you ever marveled at a piece of honeycomb floating in a honey jar and wondered how little bees made it? The construction of a honeycomb is wild.
Essentially, bees use wax glands and their mouths to create beeswax. They then shape the wax into hexagons, using their body heat to keep it moldable. Bees have big brain energy because hexagons happen to be the most efficient use of space for nectar and honey storage while still being navigable for busy bees.
Bees instinctively make these engineering marvels on any solid space protected from the elements. It’s an inspiring process.
The Sweet Life: Interesting Honey Facts
Let’s dive into the sweetest treat of them all: natural, raw honey. Here are some intriguing facts about honey production:
- A lifetime of honey: A single worker bee will only make around 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime. To make a pound of honey, bee colonies fly around 55,000 miles and tap over two million flowers.
- A year of consumption: The average American consumes a little over one pound of honey annually. Thank the hard-working female bee every time you have some delectable honey.
- Honey flavor roulette: Over 300 varieties of honey are available in the United States. Each originates from different floral sources and has a distinct and lovely flavor profile.
The natural craftsmanship bees bring to creating honey is fantastic and makes every bite even sweeter.
Eco-Heroes: Bees’ Vital Role in Our World
As bee fanatics, we know how amazing bees are and their essential role in our local ecosystems. But did you know that one out of every three mouthfuls of our food depends on pollinators like bees?
All types of bees are indispensable pollinators, and their contribution to biodiversity keeps our food supply running and the planet’s health thriving. Without bees, we’re screwed.
This is why West River Exchange is committed to environmental stewardship through beekeeping. The beekeeper’s role isn’t just keeping a hive healthy. Our job is to spread the good news about bees’ amazing role in the environment and promote their safekeeping.
Buzzing Society: The Complex Social Life of Bees
We covered the waggle dance earlier in the article, but this complex communication method isn’t just used to find a home. Bees use a combination of the waggle, physical touch, wing beating, antennae moving, and pheromones to make all kinds of decisions in their society, including:
- Where to settle a new hive,
- Queen bee mating,
- Hive defense,
- Brood rearing,
- And more!
Bees often make decisions by quorum, which means a specific number of worker bees must agree on a decision before action is taken. Every bee in the social hierarchy, even drone bees (male bees), is capable of communication. However, drones don’t have much of a role in hive decisions.
Still, every bee in the hive plays a role in keeping the hive running and furthering overall bee-kind.
Bee Surprised: Fun Facts to Buzz About
We’re here to prove that there’s no such thing as a boring bee, so we’ve accumulated some uber-interesting facts. Here are the extra fun bee facts you’ve got to know:
- Bees contribute to producing a third of the food we consume worldwide.
- Bees have been around longer than dinosaurs.
- A honey bee flaps its wings 230 times every second.
- Bees have been to outer space and produced honeycombs in zero gravity.
- Bee stingers contain bee venom, which has been used to treat arthritis.
- Royal jelly, a unique food used to feed bee larvae, may also help reduce cholesterol, lower blood sugar, treat menopause symptoms, and more.
- A bee’s sense of smell is 100 times stronger than a human’s.
- A new queen may have to fight her sisters for the throne, using her ability to sting many times. It can get pretty Game of Thrones in the hive.
There is no end to the fascinating daily life and habits of bees.
Bee a Friend: Simple Ways to Support Our Bee Buddies
The best way to love bees is to support them in your local community. First, always purchase your honey from local beekeepers. This ethical purchase is terrific for you and keeps local hives up and running.
Second, plant bee-friendly and native flowers in your garden or start a local community garden. Initiatives like honey bee and monarch gardens can have an enormous positive impact; plus, they’re gorgeous.
Want to do more? Join the bee warriors at West River Exchange and further your journey into bee advocacy and conservation.
Discover More Bee Wonders with West River Exchange
Bees are wondrous and incredibly important creatures. Learning about them is super fun, and these fascinating facts can help empower some bee activism!
Are you interested in getting more hands-on with bee support? Starting your own hive is a great place to start. Check out the premier resources and beekeeping equipment available at West River Exchange. We also have healthy honey bees for sale in Ohio and the tastiest local honey around.
Reach out to learn more and join the bee movement, which supports and promotes the health of honey bees everywhere! What are you waiting for? Let’s get buzzy!