Explaining why honey bees are so important to the environment and to people, types of bees and their jobs in the beehive, how bees produce honey, Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and why it's a threat, and how human beings can make the world a better place for honey bees.
The honey bee is truly nature’s most industrial little creature. Honey bees have had a relationship with man since the early cavemen days—when beehives were raided for their honey and wax. Since well before honey bees were kept by farmers and honey production became an agricultural industry, man has understood what an important impact our buzzing friends have on the environment, how essential honey bees are to the livelihood of most flowering plants and crops, and just how “sweet” honey bees make life in general.
Unfortunately, with the recent threat of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD,) nature’s hardest working insects are buzzing closer and closer extinction. They need our help to overcome this devastating and mysterious illness.
People fear what they don’t understand… and honey bees are so often misunderstood. Many people are allergic to their sting, or mistake them for wasps, and are quick to swat them or hose them down with insecticide before thinking twice. Honey bees are very different from wasps- they’re much less aggressive, they have two wings while wasps have four, they have a wider abdomen, and they usually appear fuzzy while wasps appear smooth and shiny. Generally, honey bees are harmless until provoked- they prefer to go about their pollinating and honey producing business without interruption. If you find you’re being approached by a honey bee, take it as a compliment! You smell good, or you’re as pretty as a flower, and all things considered, you can’t blame the bee for finding you attractive. Give her a moment to inspect, she’ll discover soon enough that you don’t require pollinating and buzz off. After all, she’s a very busy worker bee.
And yes, if you meet a bee outside the hive, she’s most likely a female. In any bee colony, there are only three types of bees: the drone, the worker bee, and the queen.