Honeybees are fascinating insects that live together in large groups called colonies. A single colony can have up to 60,000 bees! Each bee has an important job to do, and they all work together to keep the hive healthy and productive.
There are three types of bees in a colony. The queen bee is the largest and most important bee. Her job is to lay eggs—sometimes up to 2,000 eggs in a single day! Worker bees are all female and do most of the work. They collect nectar, make honey, build the honeycomb, and protect the hive. Drones are male bees whose only job is to mate with the queen.
Worker bees have different jobs depending on their age. Young worker bees stay inside the hive, cleaning cells and feeding baby bees. As they get older, they produce wax to build honeycomb and guard the entrance of the hive. The oldest worker bees fly out to collect nectar and pollen from flowers.
When a worker bee finds flowers with lots of nectar, she returns to the hive and performs a special dance called the "waggle dance." This dance tells other bees exactly where to find the flowers. The direction and length of the dance gives other bees a map to follow!
Bees are incredibly important to our world. As they visit flowers to collect nectar, they spread pollen from plant to plant. This process, called pollination, helps plants grow fruits and vegetables. Without bees, we would have much less food to eat. That's why it's so important to protect these amazing insects!