Honey bees
Honey bees in the subgenus Apis use caves, rock cavities and hollow
trees as natural nesting sites. Members of other subgenera have exposed
aerial combs. The nest is composed of multiple honeycombs, parallel to
each other, with a relatively uniform bee space. It usually has a single
entrance.
Western honey bees prefer nest cavities approximately 45 litres in
volume and avoid those smaller than 10 or larger than 100 litres.
Western honey bees show several nest-site preferences: the height above
ground is usually between 1 metre (3.3 ft) and 5 metres (16 ft),
entrance positions tend to face downward, Equatorial-facing entrances
are favoured, and nest sites over 300 metres (980 ft) from the parent
colony are preferred.
Bees usually occupy the nests for several years.
The bees often smooth the bark surrounding the hive entrance, and the
cavity walls are coated with a thin layer of hardened plant resin (propolis).
Honeycombs attached to the walls along the cavity tops and sides, but
small passageways are left along the comb edges. The basic nest
architecture for all honeybees is similar: honey is stored in the upper
part of the comb; beneath it are rows of pollen-storage cells,
worker-brood cells, and drone-brood cells, in that order. The
peanut-shaped queen cells are normally built at the lower edge of the
comb.
There are about 20,000 species of bees in the world. Bees live in
colonies and there are three types of bees in each colony. There is the
queen bee, the worker bee and the drone.
The worker bee and the queen bee are both female, but only the queen
bee can reproduce. All drones are male. Worker bees clean the hive,
collecting pollen and nectar to feed the colony and they take care of
the offspring. The drone's only job is to mate with the queen. The
queen's only job is to lay eggs.
Bees store their venom in a sac attached to their stinger and only
female bees sting. That is because the stinger, called an ovipositor, is
part of the female bee's reproductive design. A queen bee uses her
ovipositor to lay eggs as well as sting. Sterile females, also called
worker bees, don't lay eggs. They just use their ovipositors to sting.
Bees see all colours except the colour red. That and their sense of
smell help them find the flowers they need to collect pollen. Not only
is pollen a food source for bees, but some of the pollen is dropped in
flight, resulting in cross pollination. The relationship between the
plant and the insect is called symbiosis.
Certain species of bees die after stinging because their stingers,
which are attached to their abdomen, have little barbs or hooks on them.
When this type of bee tries to fly away after stinging something, part
of the abdomen is ripped away.
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