Bees and Beekeeping

Wild bees will build a nest, preferably within a hollow in a tree. A beekeeper will provide an artificial home for his/her bees and this is called a hive. A group of hives is called an apiary. Either way, bees living in the same nest are known as a colony.

Generally yes. One or even a few wasps trying to get into a hive will easily be repelled -- and probably killed -- by the guard bees at the entrance. However, if there is a concerted attack by a lot of wasps at the same time they could overcome the guard bees and get in. If they do, they will kill as many bees as they can in order to get to the honey.

Like most other flowers, sunflowers produce nectar, which bees consume and transform into honey. Sunflowers are particularly attractive mainly due to the sheer number of florets on a single sunflower; a bee can spend over an hour on the same plant.

there are a variety of predators for this bird like other birds called the peregrine falcon, the sparrow hawk and by some land cats but not many predators can consume them or at least catch them as they spend most of their lives eating bees , hornets , wasps ,etc in mid air making it awkward for the predator to consume them, so there is no real predator just for the bee eater, making them almost predator free.

Honey bees and indeed other bees do have hairs on them. The word 'born' is a little vague since the eggs first hatch to produce a larva (arguably this is the point of birth) but then go on to develop into the fully formed insect and be 'born again' as they emerge from their cell/cocoon.

As larvae they have no hairs but as bees they emerge with hairs. One of the ways that beekeepers recognize a much older bee is by its loss of hairs that in time become rubbed off by the brushing past comb and other bees inside the hive.

The drones are the male bees. The queen and worker bees are all female.

The only purpose of a drone is to mate with a new queen. Once mating has finished the drone will die.

Within the hive, the drones have no function and do no work. As autumn turns to winter all of the drones in the hive will be thrown out by the worker bees and will die. New drones will be produced at the start of the next season.

Yes Honey Bees do sting! The sting is found in the abdomen, the larger part of the Bee which also contains the heart, the wax glands and the reproductive organs. There are two glands associated with the sting. One is known as the Bifurcated venom gland which produces the venom and the other is the alkaline gland which produces the lubricant for the sting mechanism.

Bees use their sting to defend their colony and when used effectively a well targeted thrust can paralyse or even kill the opposing Bee. Within the context of the bee world the Bee sting is a deadly weapon. It is also given an extra edge because when a Bee stings it releases a pheromone called Isopentylacetate which calls it's fellow Bees to 'sting in the same place' and acts as a call to battle.

The impulse for a Bee to sting can often be triggered if a Bee becomes entangled, for example in hair of clothing and this in turn can cause the victim to wave their hands wildly. This also helps trigger the impulse to sting and double the trouble for the surprised victim.

If you are handling a colony of bees or you are a bee keeper it is always advisable to wear a veil and cover your face as it hurts when you are stung. Also gloves are advisable, especially if new to keeping bees, because when starting out having gloves on gives you more confidence to handle the colony and also keeps your hands clean for when having to do more delicate tasks such as clipping the queen's wings. It's easy enough to whip them off and then slip them back on as required.

More information on Honey Bees can be found at the Do Honey Bees Sting Website.

Bumblebees are extremely important to the plant life-cycle. This is because they play a vital role in pollinating plants by spreading the pollen from one plant to another, ensuring that the plant can reproduce. Without bumblebees to pollinate plants, it would be very difficult to grow a lot of the foods we have come to rely on such as tomatoes, apples and cucumbers.

yes there is a stinger,they have honey, and they live in bee hives

To protect themselves The do so in order to defend themselves or their nest.

Hemimetabolism or hemimetaboly, also called incomplete metamorphosis, is a term used to describe the mode of development of certain insects that includes three distinct stages: the egg, nymph, and the adult stage, or imago. These groups go through gradual changes; there is no pupal stage. The nymph often somewhat resemble the adult stage but lacking wings and functional reproductive organs.

Antarctica does not have bees because they would freeze to death.

Bees store honey in comb cells which are capped over with wax.

Yes. Honey Bees do camouflage. Their color is the color of honey. As stated in the name, Honey Bee.

Bees have five eyes: three very simple eyes called ocelli in a triangle on the top of the head which are sensitive to light and dark but can't resolve images; and two compound eyes made up of thousands of tiny lenses called facets.

Compound eyes are particularly good at detecting movement and honey bees cand easily differentiate between solid and broken patters, and show a preference for broken figures. They also seem to prefer moving flowers to stationary ones.

Bees' colour vision extends well into the ultra-violet range, and they are less sensitive to red. They can also distinguish plane polarized light.

Wet the ground and place an old carpet over the area. Leave the carpet overnight then remove it in the morning. The jackets will come to the surface and unto the carpet.

Simply turn the carpet over in the morning and the birds will feast on the jackets that are under the carpet. Use a pyrethrin dust on them in the hole very early in the am, and then run, cause they will be mad.

It collects the nectar and pollen (pollinating the flower).

No. Bees do not attack human unless you bother them. Just leave them alone than you'll be fine.

Depends on what type of bee you're talking about. Honeybees build their hives in hollow places by secreting wax and forming it into combs. If you're talking about wasp nests, which are NOT bees, those are usually made out of paper pulp that the wasps collect from paper or trees.

Yes, bees can easily fly from the ground. If you find a bee that seems unable to fly it may be cold -- they need a body temperature of over about 70 degrees F or they cannot fly -- or it is possible the bee is at the end of its life. Honey bees in particular will fly until their wings get too tattered for them to fly any further, then they will die.

"Yes, when bees suck the nectar from flowers such as Elderberry, the honey they produce turns slightly purple."

I disagree with that answer. As a beekeeper who has harvested purple honey and thoroughly researched the cause of it I can assure you that it has nothing to do with elderberries and that it is much more than slightly purple.