Bees

Bees can be classified as either social or solitary. Social bees are just that — they form large colonies and their hives contain many bees. Solitary bees are quite the opposite and live independently or in smaller colonies. They fly alone to and from their tiny nests and have just enough resources for themselves. Each bee colony typically consists of a queen bee and worker bees, and sometimes drone bees.

Bees go through three stages on the way to adulthood. The development process can vary between bee species and each species develops at a different pace. Regardless, every bee begins as an egg. After an egg hatches, it turns into larvae, then pupae, then into an adult.

Plants and crops need bees for pollination. When a bee lands on a flower, it transfers pollen from the male parts of a flower to the female parts of the flower, resulting in the fertilization of the plant. Most crops for fruits that we eat require pollination for growth.

No. Not all bees sting, but many bee species have stingers and will sting if they feel threatened.

Worker bees (females) fill their stomachs with nectar from flowers before returning to the hive to convert it into honey. Honeybees reduce the water content in honey and add sugar to limit the ability of bacteria to grow in it and spoil it.

Before nectar becomes honey, it enters a bee's stomach. An enzyme in a bee’s stomach, called glucose oxidase, breaks down the nectar and helps produce the honey.

The honeybee then regurgitates the nectar from the honey stomach, and it is passed from mouth–to–mouth between the hive's bees to reduce its moisture content. Each bee chews the nectar for about half an hour.

When the nectar's moisture content has been reduced from around 70% to about 20%, it has reached the state that it becomes the honey we consume. The honey is stored in cells within the hive and covered with a wax seal.

Though it may be hard to tell, bees and wasps have different body shapes and characteristics. The main difference between the two is that bees have hairy bodies and flat legs, whereas wasps have smooth bodies and narrow legs.

Yes, but not all bee species pollinate our food crops. Some play an operant role as pollinators for many flowering plant species. Research has shown that 80% of pollination is done by commercial honeybees while the remaining is comprised of various wild bee species. The list of pollinators is long and includes hummingbirds, flies, moths, wasps, beetles, bats, and butterflies among many others.