Honey bee Studies

Lots of interesting facts, because bees are very interesting!!

• They were originally native only to Afro-Eurasia, but were introduced to the rest of the world by humans. They are now found on all continents other than Antarctica.

• The correct spelling is Honey Bee, not Honeybee. So decrees entomologist Robert Snodgrass, which is an incredible name for somebody who is very picky about compound words.

• Drones are the only males in a colony. They do not possess stingers, because stingers are actually modified ovipositors. Drones are the unfertilized offspring of the queen, meaning a queen can create drones parthenogenically. However, a queen will not inbreed with her own sons, and on the rare occasion that she does, the resulting offspring will be eaten.

• In severe winters, all drones are driven out of the hive, and almost certainly die of exposure.

• When sexually mature, drones will congregate in "congregation areas," away from their home colonies, where they will await the arrival of virgin queens. Mating occurs mid-flight, and a drone's ejaculation is so powerful that his endophallus ruptures, creating a distinct "popping" sound. He will die shortly after. A queen can store the semen of around 15 drones.

• The importance of honeybees for crops in areas where they are not native is highly overstated. In fact, honeybees are often detrimental to native pollinators, while also being less effective at pollinating native plants. Many of the most important crops consumed by humans, in fact, require no insect pollination at all.

• A western honeybee bee colony is considered to be a superorganism. Colonies reproduce through a process "swarming;" when conditions are optimal, a hive will birth one to two dozen new queens. Once their pupal stage is nearly complete, the old queen takes about 2/3 of the colony to find a suitable location for a new hive. They are unaggressive in this state.

• Contrary to popular belief, a worker bee will not always die after stinging. The stinger only detaches when stinging a mammal.

• There is a very contentious and occasionally hostile debate among scientists about whether bees actually dance to communicate, or if they just communicate via pheromones.