Bee Fun Facts

Did you know…?

• 1 out of every 3 mouthfuls of food we eat and beverages we drink is produced by insect pollination.
• Approximately 70% of the top 100 food and fiber crops rely on insect pollination.
• Approximately 90% of wild plants use insect pollination for reproduction, underscoring their role in promoting biodiversity.
• A standard-sized hive typically contains between 10,000 and 60,000 bees.
• A queen bee, on her mating flights, will mate with a dozen or so drones, but then never mate again during her life. After mating, she is capable of producing over 1,000 fertilized eggs every day for three to five years.
• The male bee (drone - smaller male bees that hatch in mid-summer) cannot feed himself, but has to beg for food from worker bees.
• To make 1 kilo of honey, a colony of bees will collectively fly about 24,854.8 miles.
• When "scout bees" are searching for food, they follow a meandering path. However they are able to return to the hive in a straight line (“bee-line”) due to their unique navigating skills.
• Bumblebees never swarm - so you can encourage a nest or two in the garden without fear of this happening.
• Not all bumblebees sting. Drones have no sting at all.
• Bumblebees do not lose their sting and will not die if they use it, like a honey bee will.
• Each honey bee makes about 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime, but a productive hive can make and store up to 2 pounds of honey a day.