Did you know that the worth of the global crops in 2005 was estimated at around $200 billion? Much of this value is constantly increasing thanks to bee’s pollination. You could say that pollen makes the world go round! Bees need pollen to make honey. In turn, we need bees to survive. Even if you’re allergic to pollen, you have to admit it. Without pollen we probably wouldn’t be able to live on this planet anymore. We’ve prepared our home remedies for allergies. Without further adieu, deal with the allergies and read about the 10 interesting bee facts.
10. They Have Stunning Visual Perception
Humans can perceive the difference between images in 1/50 of a second. If you think that’s impressive, you should know that a bee can do it in 1/300 of a second. If a bee would be watching TV, it would see each individual frame transmitted. Also, each bee has a unique scent which they use as a means of communication both inside and outside the hive.
9. Apitherapy is Amazing
Apitherapy refers to the medical uses for everything that the bees produce: pollen beads, Royal Jelly, honey and even their own stings. For example, there is a procedure where MS patients are stung by honeybees in the areas where they have nerve damage. Apitherapy helps stimulate them and encourage growth. The results have been quite amazing.
8. When Push Comes to Shove, They are Cannibals
Bees eat nectar and honey. The larvae eat pollen. But, when times get rough they do end up eating each other. But, don’t think that it’s mayhem in their hive when this happens; bees are too cool for that. Even their cannibalism is conducted in an orderly matter: they eat the larvae and eggs first. Later, if still necessary, they eat the older and less important population.
7. Bees Sleep
Up until recently, experts believed that bees didn’t sleep. Instead, they believed that the bees worked themselves to death. The last part is still true. Worker bees work about 45 days until they die from exhaustion. However, scientist discovered that bees do in fact sleep. They do it in 30 second intervals. First, the bees drop their antennae. Then, they relax their bodies. Bees only sleep in the hive.
6. They Have 5 Eyes and Can’t See Red
One of the most interesting facts about bees is the fact that they can’t see red. They have 5 eyes (two large compound eyes which can be observed and three smaller ocelli eyes in the center of their heads). Bees can’t perceive the color red. What they do see is most likely in the blue-green color spectrum (perhaps, with shades of yellow and orange). Would it be sad if they couldn’t see the color yellow?
5. They Love Their Roles
Bees are an example of efficiency. Is there anything more efficient than having well-appointed roles? They’re not all mindless drones (the drones are only used by the queen to fertilizer her); some serve as undertakes which get rid of the dead bodies of other bees and some serve as security guards. Did you know that bees love to keep their home clean and never defecate inside their hive? They only do it while flying!
4. Only Queens Mate and They Mate Brutally
Drones are males that don’t have stings in their backs and whose only job is to mate with the queen. This mating ritual is quite gruesome: a male approaches the queen and penetrates her with his endophallus which actually remains within the queen to ensure that fertilization occurs. They die after they mate, literally giving their life for the perpetuation of the hive and the species. Even if they survive, which is rare, they are evicted from their nests, because they are wounded.
3. They Have Serious Math Skills
Well, this doesn’t really come as much of a surprise, does it? I mean, we’ve all seen the bees’ honeycomb. It is a perfect hexagon. After studying wild bees, scientists discovered that the initial shape of the honeycombs was round. The walls of the round tiny rooms were heated, thus they melted down and formed hexagons. Bees are incredibly smart. They are experts in navigation and calculation. How else could they return home after visiting hundreds of flowers?
2. They Recognize Faces
Bees are pretty awesome when it comes to the facial recognitions of humans. They use the same means humans do when they recognize faces. It’s called configural processing. This term refers to the lines and shapes of the human face which form a pattern. If they require it (some bees do and others don’t), they can learn to distinguish between really intricate photographic human faces.
1. They Work So Hard
Did you know that the average worker bee makes about 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime? Think about that the next time you’re using honey to sweeten something. It visits roughly 100 flowers during a single trip. Also, it takes one ounce of honey to fuel its flight around the world! They’re quite amazing, honey bees!
Did you enjoy these interesting facts about bees? If you have a garden, be kind to these amazing, little guys. Only use natural pesticides on your plants. Colony collapse disorder is a real thing caused by harsh, chemical based fertilizers! Their life depends on us and our life depends on them. Without them, we will surely die!
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