by Teddy Colcher (6th)

Bees. They’re the villain of the summer- the little yellow flying insects who sting you and suck the fun out of that water balloon party. But what if I told you that bees may be one of the most important insects of them all. That sweet, sweet honey that you have every time you can? Wouldn’t exist without bees. That’s just one of the things that bees do to make the world better. Today, I’ll be telling you everything to know about bees, and why they’re so important.

Bees live in a hive. All hives are centered around the queen bee, which is basically the president of the hive. All the other bees are worker bees or drones. Worker bees mainly start off working inside the hive. As they grow up, they start to take on bigger duties, such as getting food for the hive.

Since the queen is the only bee that can reproduce in a colony, she’s the one laying all the eggs. For this reason, bees don’t find love like most other animals. Mating is actually fatal for a bee, so the queen will be mating with many different drones.

Worker bees will go outside the hive to find pollen and nectar. They get these two nutrients by collecting them from flowers. Most bees live off of pollen and nectar as a primary food source, but they also create honey for the winter months, when going outside the hive is more dangerous and pollen and nectar are scarce.

Pollinating flowers not only allows bees to have food, but also allows flowers to reproduce. When flowers are pollinated, they can produce seeds and fruits, which turn into a new flower. The cycle then repeats, as a bee pollinates the new flower and the new flower produces seeds.

If bees were to suddenly disappear, the world as we know it would be completely changed. Many plants would die, which would affect animals that rely on the plants for food. Also, many fruits would be hard to get without being pollinated. These include apples, berries, etc.

Next up, I’m going to talk about drone bees. Drones have one purpose: to mate with the queen. Once the drone mates, the bee will die. Drones also have no stinger, which may be because they don’t need to defend themselves. After all, they’re never going to leave the hive.

Bees seem to sting anyone for no reason, but that’s not the case. The stinger is purely for self defense. When a bee thinks that a person or animal is threatening them or the hive, they do the ultimate sacrifice. A sting can release pheromones, which warn other bees that they may need to defend themselves. However, a sting is fatal to some bees, including honeybees. In that case, the stinger is ripped from the bee’s abdomen, killing it.

However, you don’t need to worry about being stung. Once again, they only use it as self defense. As long as you keep your distance from a hive and give it plenty of space to forage, you’ll be alright. In fact, a bee buzzing around you doesn’t mean you’ll get stung, unless you’re getting too close to their hive. Usually, bees buzzing around you are just looking to pollinate.

In the end, bees aren’t trying to hurt you or ruin your water balloon-throwing contest. They’re just trying to live. So the next time you get stung or get annoyed by a bee, just remember that without them, some of your favorite food wouldn’t exist.