Honey bees (Apis mellifera ) are one of the most well-known and economically beneficial insects. Honey bees, like ants, termites and some wasps, are social insects. Unlike ants and wasps, bees are vegetarians; their protein comes from pollen and their carbohydrates come from honey, which they make from nectar.
Honey bees are important pollinators of almonds, tree fruits, berries, melons, forage, and vegetable crops. Their contribution to the U.S. food production exceeds $9 Billion.
There are three casts of honey bees:
The Worker (female bee) does all the work of the colony. A colony may have up to 60,000 workers. In the course of her lifetime, a worker bee will produce 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey. To make one pound of honey, workers fly 55,000 miles and visit two million flowers. In a single foraging trip a worker will visit 50-100 flowers and return to the hive carrying half of her weight in pollen and nectar.
The Queen (fully fertile female) specializes in producing eggs. She will lay one egg per minute, day and night, for a total of 1500 in a 24-hour period and 200,000 in a year.
The Drone (male bee) may number up to 500 in a colony in Spring and Summer. Their main purpose is to fly from the hive and mate in the air with queens from other colonies. In the Fall, the number of drones declines and they are typically banished from the hive in order not to consume valuable honey resources.
Honey bees also provide valuable hive products including honey, pollen, and wax.
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