I read about bees to prepare for this workbook and fell in love!
Did you know…
- Bees see a more expanded color spectrum than us and are especially attracted to blue – which caused flowers to evolve with more blue and purples petals.
- When bees check out a new hive location, they enter at the bottom and search for a secure foundation at the top. Bees’ hives are built from the top down, contrary to other builders.
- Successful beekeepers form relationships with their hives.
- The bees themselves intuitively decide if more females or males are needed. Building slightly larger cells stimulates the queen to place a male egg; smaller cells receive female eggs.
- Bees are prehistoric! They shared space with dinosaurs. And are still here!
- Honeybees were man’s first domestic species.
- Bees are deaf. What? I SAID, BEES ARE DEAF but you don’t have to yell, they do ‘feel’ sound.
- They also don’t have bones, but they have a rigid exoskeleton which is water tight.
- Bees with multiple personalities:
- Inside the hive, bees are called a colony.
- When they are outside the hive and foraging, they are called sisters.
- When the hive divides, they are called a swarm.
- Inside the hive in the winter, they are called a cluster and share body warmth to heat the entire hive.
- When killing to protect the hive, they are called a ball of bees.
Bees are individual creatures, but more important, they are part of a colony and the colony is crucial. They cannot survive without the colony. Being part of a healthy community is crucial for them – and it’s crucial for us too.