Fun Facts

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Honeybees communicate food source through the Waggle Dance

- Worker bee performs a "waggle dance" in the hive to communicate location of food source to the other bees
- Waggle dance conveys distance and direction of the food source
- Angle of waggle indicates the direction to the sun, duration of waggle is the distance
- More vigorous the dance, the richer the food source

Honeybees are essential pollinators

- Pollinate approximately 1/3 of the food we consume contributing to biodiversity and food production
- Collect nectar from flowers that transfers pollen, fertilizing plants to produce fruits, vegetables, and seeds
- A single honeybee colony can pollinate up to 300 million flowers in a single day.

Honeybees lifespan are short but busy

- Worker bees live about six weeks during the summer; each bee produces about a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey.

Honeybees are the only insect that produces food eaten by humans

- Archaeologists found pots of honey in ancient Egyptian tombs over 3,000 years old and still perfectly edible

Honeybees have a remarkable sense of smell

- They have 170 odorant receptors and can recognize different types of flowers and even detect explosives.

Queen bee can live up to five years

- She is the busiest in the summer months, when she can lay up to 2,500 eggs a day.

Honeybees fly at a speed of around 15 miles per hour

Honeybees use propolis, a sticky resin, to seal gaps and protect the hive against bacteria, fungi, and viruses.

- They collect resin from leaf buds, sap flows, and other botanical sources that they mix with wax, honey, and enzymes from their stomachs to make propolis. Propolis is the honeybee's medicine. Its medicinal properties are antimicrobial. It is used in some mouthwashes and toothpaste to reduce inflammation and plaque. It is also used for cough, sore throats and colds as well as wound healing.

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