The bee is a beneficial insect, and you often hear it before you see it. While it may initially cause fear, the more you learn about it, the more you will appreciate how it provides us humans with more than just honey. Bees are diverse in shape and color, with species ranging from black or brown to those with white, yellow, or orange stripes, and all are covered in varying amounts of hair. Classified as specialized insects called pollinators, bees collect nectar and pollen from flowers and play a crucial role in ecosystems. Whenever we think of bees, we naturally imagine the honey-producing type, known as the domestic honeybee, brought from one region to another for honey production. However, there are over 40,000 species of native bees, including 4,000 in the U.S. alone. These bees have lived without human assistance and do not make honey but are vital in pollinating our crops, earning them the nickname “super pollinators.”

Millions of years ago, bees were very similar to carnivorous wasps, but as flowering plants emerged, bees became plant-based feeders, surviving solely on nectar and pollen. For them, pollen is a balanced food containing essential nutrients needed for survival. Female bees have pollen baskets on their hind legs made of rows of stiff hair that form hollow spaces to collect pollen. When a bee visits a flower, it combs the pollen into its baskets, which also clings to their hair. These features are unique to bees, as even male bees and wasps lack such traits. Other bee species, like the “leaf-cutter bee,” use a brush on their abdomen to gather pollen, while parasitic bees do not have pollen baskets. Nectar is absorbed through a specialized tongue and stored in the throat until they return to the hive, where the nectar turns into honey, which is stored for food.

As bees fly from flower to flower, they absorb nectar and collect pollen, helping plants reproduce. Flowers that attract bees are often yellow, blue, or purple, and many bees specialize in specific flower types. This specialization prevents different bee species from competing over the same flowers. Fruits and vegetables we enjoy, such as apples, avocados, berries, cherries, cucumbers, kiwis, melons, peaches, pears, strawberries, sunflowers, and others, rely heavily on bees for pollination. Farmers often hire commercial beekeepers to bring bees to their fields when crops are ready to bloom. Beekeepers place hives near the fields, allowing bees to collect nectar and pollinate the plants simultaneously. Honey comes in various flavors and colors depending on the flowers bees feed on, such as clover honey, orange blossom honey, or buckwheat honey. Beeswax candles burn with a bright, clean glow and are used in hand cream, furniture polish, and candy coatings.

Bees are highly organized insects, fascinating to observe from a distance as they work to aid plant reproduction. Contrary to popular belief, most bees are solitary and do not live in colonies. Each female builds her nest in holes in dead wood, tree cavities, or crumbling walls, while others build nests on rocks or plants using mud, chewed leaves, or animal hair. Eggs are laid on pollen balls inside the nest, while parasitic bees lay eggs in other bees’ nests, with their larvae consuming the pollen and honey meant for the host larvae. Solitary bees rarely sting, as males lack stingers, and females’ stingers are too short to penetrate human skin. They also do not have honey to defend or produce but instead make a food called “bee bread” by mixing pollen and nectar. Females fill their pollen baskets and bring the mixture to their nests to prepare bee bread for their offspring.

Honeybees and bumblebees, however, are social insects, living in colonies or hives consisting of a queen, workers, and males called drones. They are the only bees that produce and store honey, working together for the good of the colony. Each bee has a specific role. The queen’s sole function is to lay eggs—up to 2,000 per day for 2-5 years. Worker bees, mostly female, are responsible for building honeycombs, caring for larvae, cleaning the hive, feeding the queen, and collecting food. A single colony may consist of thousands of workers, sometimes over 60,000 bees. As they age, worker bees take on different tasks. New workers clean for the first three days, then become nurse bees to feed larvae and the queen. By day 10, their wax glands mature, allowing them to build honeycombs. Around days 16-20, they receive pollen and nectar from older bees to store in the comb, later guarding the hive, and in the final stages of their life, they gather food, spending the remaining weeks collecting as much nectar and pollen as possible for the hive. Drones, the male bees, are few in number and spend their early days feeding their sisters before flying off to find a queen. They have large eyes to help them search for a queen, and after mating, they die.

When a new food source is found, bees signal other workers in the colony through scent marking. Honeybees also communicate this information through a “dance.” The bee that found the flowers brings a pollen sample back to the colony, wiggles its body, and spreads the flower’s scent. Some scientists believe the dance indicates the direction of the food source, while others think it only helps other bees identify the scent. Either way, the message is passed on, and the other bees head to the same spot. Inside the hive, sheets of honeycomb are created to protect larvae and store pollen and honey. Honeycomb is made from beeswax secreted by glands in the abdomens of worker bees. They chew the wax and mold it into the hexagonal cells of the comb, forming sheets of honeycomb that can be 0.6 to 1.2 meters long. An empty honeycomb weighs only a few grams, but when filled with honey, it can weigh several kilograms.

Recently, there has been talk of the so-called killer bees or Africanized honeybees (AHB), a type brought from Africa to Brazil in 1956 and bred with local honeybees to increase productivity. Unfortunately, the resulting hybrid was highly aggressive, which was undesirable for beekeepers. Many queens escaped, and the bees gradually spread northward across South America, Central America, eastern Mexico, and now the United States. Killer bees closely resemble honeybees but behave differently, being more aggressive and quicker to defend their hives. They chase threats for longer distances and tend to swarm and sting in large numbers. Multiple stings can be dangerous, but a single sting from these bees is no more harmful than that of a regular bee.

Humans are currently facing a food supply issue due to colony collapse disorder, the rapid loss of honeybee colonies. As a result, fewer bees are available to transport pollen between plants and fruits for reproduction. The causes remain unclear, but pesticides, crop types, mites, fungi, and the stress of transporting hives long distances for agriculture may all contribute to the decline of honeybees. Fortunately, colony collapse disorder has not affected native solitary bees. If honeybees are no longer able to meet pollination needs, local bees may take over. Studies have shown that only 500 blue orchard bees could replace the work of 40,000 honeybees, potentially playing a significant role in our survival.

Identification Card:

• Category: Insects
• Order: Hymenoptera
• Species: Approximately 25,000 identified, but it is estimated that there are more than 40,000 species.
• Lifespan: Up to five years for the queen bee, while males live for a few weeks.
• Egg count: Up to 2,000 eggs per day.
• Maturity: 16 to 24 days to complete metamorphosis, depending on the gender.
• Size: The largest bee, Chalicodoma pluto, measures 40 millimeters, while the smallest, Perdita minima, measures 2 millimeters.

Quick Facts about Bees:

• A single bee can collect enough nectar to produce between 1 to 12 teaspoons of honey.
• The first thing a worker bee does when it hatches is turn right and clean its space.
• Orchid bees are the most colorful bees, displaying stunning shades of green, blue, and red.
• Overgrown tall grass creates an ideal nesting habitat for local or solitary bees during winter, and flowering grasses serve as a primary source of nectar and pollen for them.