The Social Life of Bees

     Honey bees are social insects that live together in a hive. One hive of bees is called a colony. A small colony has about 20,000 bees and a large colony can have over 100,000 bees. Each bee in a colony has a special job to do. If a bee is separated from its colony, it cannot live on its own.

     There is only one queen bee in each colony. She is bigger than the other bees, and she is the only bee that can have babies. The queen lays her eggs in the wax cells in the bee hive. She can lay 1500 eggs in one day, and she lives for about two years.

     Drones are male bees that do not have a stinger. They do not have to collect food or pollen from flowers. Their job is to mate with the queen to make baby bees. If there is  not enough food in a colony, the drones are often kicked out of the hive.

     Workers are the smallest bees in the colony, and they are all female. They do not have babies. They feed the queen and the babies, guard the entrance to the hive, and help to keep the hive cool by fanning their wings. Another job of the worker bees is to collect pollen and nectar from flowers. They then turn the nectar into honey. Workers have to visit over 4000 flowers to  make just one tablespoon of honey. In addition to making honey, worker bees also make the wax cells that make up a bee hive.

     Bees communicate with each other about food sources by using dances. The sounds from the movement of the bees is picked up by the tiny hairs on the bee's head. Bees use the sun to find their way home.

     Bees are not the only social animals that live together in groups. Click HERE to find a list of the special names given to animals that live in groups.