1. Our Friends the Honey Bees

2. Brought to you by the

3. Which one is a honey bee?

4. Identification

5. Why are honey bees important? They pollinate flowers that lead to the production of fruits and vegetables.They pollinate flowers that lead to the production of fruits and vegetables. About 1 mouthful of every 3 bites we eat is food that honeybees have helped to produce – not counting honey!About 1 mouthful of every 3 bites we eat is food that honeybees have helped to produce – not counting honey!

6. Honey bees… produce honey & beeswaxgather pollen & propolis

7. Wasps and bumble bees are important to the environment! Wasps and bumble bees provide pollination. Wasps provide insect control.

8. Beekeepers Beekeepers keep honeybees in bee hives; a bee hive gives the bees a place to live.Beekeepers keep honeybees in bee hives; a bee hive gives the bees a place to live.

9. Beehives have ~50,000 bees

10. Workers, Drones, & Queen

11. Worker Bees (females) gather nectar from flowers with their tongues. collect nectar to make honey and pollen to feed baby bees. carry pollen in baskets on their rear legs. can and do sting when threatened.

12. Short Life of the Worker Bee

13. Drones (males) Drones do no work within the hive. As a result, they get “kicked out” of hive in the autumn. Drones have no stinger and cannot sting.

14. Queen The queen bee lays eggs, as many as 2,000 eggs per day during the spring. A beehive will have only one queen.

15. Honey Bees are Our Friends While honey bees will sting, they do so only to protect their hives and themselves. Beekeepers who know what they are doing rarely get stung by bees even when opening a hive! Some beekeepers even “grow” bee beards!