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Bees are members of the same family as wasps and ants. Early in their history, they were predatory creatures, attacking and devouring other insects. At some point in their evolution, perhaps through feeding their larvae insects with pollen on them, bees got a taste for pollen themselves. There are now nearly 2,000 known species of... more »
Bees use a special form of communication in order to find food. Certain flowers provide more food or a continuous supply of food, and bees perform a "dance" to tell each other where to go. Using the sun as a sort of compass, they move in circles and back-and-forth motions in a type of dance that explains where they have found food and... more »
Carpenter bees are a species of bee that despite their name do not actually eat wood. Carpenter bees do use wood for their nesting site, excavating chambers within the wood for such a purpose. They rarely can cause great damage to the wood they live in and are valuable assets in nature since they pollinate a number of flower and tree... more »
Bees wax is a good material for beginning carvers because it's very forgiving. You can easily recycle an entire piece and start over, or replace and reform just one portion. Bees wax also has the advantage of being a sustainable and non-toxic natural craft material and your carvings will smell great for a long time. more »
Wasps and bees are all capable of stinging people, but there are some very noticeable differences between the two. Wasps can sting you more than once, while bees will die after they sting you because their stinger, which is attached to the very end of their digestive system, is barbed and remains in the skin, causing the bee to... more »
Spelling Bees are popular academic competitions that are hosted across the country from local to...
If nature is calling but the woods are too far away, invite some wildlife into your backyard...
Bees have a painful sting that can leave a victim uncomfortable for days. Even worse, those who are allergic to bee stings may become violently... more »
Since they have slowly moved into the United States, the killer bee has a reputation that exceeds its deeds. Killer bees were released in North... more »
For centuries people have smoked bees in a variety of ways in order to calm them prior to handling. Though scientists have several theories as to... more »
The reproductive cycle of bees is unique, and is fundamentally interconnected with the caste system of bee colonies. Within any colony, there are... more »
Use these guidelines to help your hive survive the winter and to prepare for spring. more »
Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila. There are nearly 20,000 known species of bees in nine recognized families,"Danforthetal2006"> though many are undescribed and the actual number is probably higher. They are found on every continent except Antarctica, in every habitat on the planet that contains insect-pollinated flowering plants.
Introduction
Bees are adapted for feeding on nectar and pollen, the former primarily as an energy source and the latter primarily for protein and other nutrients. Most pollen is used as food for larvae.
Bees have a long proboscis (a complex "tongue") that enables them to obtain the nectar from flowers. They have antennae almost universally made up of 13 segments in males and 12 in females, as is typical for the superfamily. Bees all have two pairs of wings, the hind pair being the smaller of the two; in a very few species, one sex or caste has relatively short wings that make flight difficult or impossible, but none are wingless.
The smallest bee is Trigona minima, a stingless bee whose workers are about 2.1 mm (5/64") long. The largest bee in the world is Megachile pluto, a leafcutter bee whose females can attain a length of 39 mm (1.5"). Members of the family Halictidae, or sweat bees, are the most common type of bee in the Northern Hemisphere, though they are small and often mistaken for wasps or flies.
The best-known bee species is the European honey bee, which, as its name suggests, produces honey, as do a few other types of bee. Human management of this species is known as beekeeping or apiculture.
Bees are the favorite meal of Merops apiaster, the bee-eater bird. Other common predators are kingbirds, mockingbirds, bee wolves and dragonflies.
Pol read more at » http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee
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