All About Honey Bees by Sydney Essler https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf en-us 2018-10-29 21:17:39 UTC 2023-05-08 15:22:32 UTC hello@padlet.com Appearance sydneyessler16 https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/298278323 Honey bees are black and yellow insects. Their length generally ranges from .08 to 1.6 inches long. Their bodies are round and robust, and they tend to have fuzz on their bodies in order to collect and distribute pollen. Honey bees also display all of the attributes necessary to be qualified as insects. These attributes include: six legs, two wings, a head, a thorax, and an abdomen. On their thorax, they have a pollen basket and a stinger on the end. Additionally, they have antenna that are used for the collection of data. The types of data the antenna collect include: touch, taste, smell, temperature, carbon dioxide, gravity, and wind speed. 

“Bee" Britannica Academic, Encyclopædia Britannica, 24 Aug. 2018. 
https://www.britannica.com/animal/bee. Accessed 25 Sep. 2018.


Attached below is a labeled diagram of a honey bee.
]]> 2018-10-29 21:27:03 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/298278323 Additional Honey Bee Appearance Information sydneyessler16 https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/299865647 Here is a website from Arizona State University that dives into greater detail about the external and internal anatomy of a honey bee.]]> 2018-11-02 16:08:36 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/299865647 Role in the Environment sydneyessler16 https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/299865725 As pollinators, honey bees play a very crucial role in the environment. In fact, according to the Washington State Department of Health, bees are necessary in the production of up to a third of our food supply. A large portion of the fruits and crops that make up our diet are available thanks to honey bees. Without bees, many plants would not be pollinated and unable to reproduce. The Canadian Agricultural and Food Museum shares on their website that increased visits from bees helps fruit to become larger and more uniform.

"Bees and Wasps." Washington State Department of Health, Washington State Department of Heath, https://www.doh.wa.gov/CommunityandEnvironment/Pests/BeesandWasps. Accessed 9 Nov. 2018. 

"The Importance of Bees: Pollination." Canadian Agriculture and Food Museum, https://bees.techno-science.ca/english/bees/pollination/default.php. Accessed 9 Nov. 2018. 

For more information about bees and their role in pollination, check out more information from the Canadian Agricultural and Food Museum page by clicking on the link below.]]> 2018-11-02 16:08:44 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/299865725 Hives sydneyessler16 https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/299865762 Honey bee hives are found in crevices of rocks, hollows of trees, or manmade boxes. In order to construct their hives, honey bees chew on wax until it becomes soft and then shape the wax into hexagons. Hexagons are the ideal shape for constructing honeycomb because they minimize the amount of wax needed and maximize the amount of area for storage. In the individual hexagonal cells, honey bees store developing larvae, pollen, honey, and nectar. Maximizing honey storage is important because honey bees do not hibernate and instead sustain themselves off of stored honey during the winter.

Whitmer, Phil. "Types of Natural Beehives." Sciencing, Leaf Group, 27 Apr. 2017, sciencing.com/types-natural-beehives-6893402.html. 

For a visual explanation of why honey bees chose a hexagonal hive design, watch the video attached here:]]> 2018-11-02 16:08:49 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/299865762 Life Cycle sydneyessler16 https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/299867032 Honey bees generally live for six weeks. The four main stages in their life cycle include: egg, larvae, pupae, and adult. Bees begin life as eggs. After hatching, they usually spend six days in the larvae stage. During this stage, they are fed anywhere from 150 to 800 times per day. After the larvae stage ends, the honeycomb cell the honey bee is in become capped. At this point, the honey bee begins to create a cocoon out of silk and enter the pupae stage. Pupae grow larger and form adult bee body parts. These body parts include wings, legs, organs, and muscles. The pupae chew through the cap of their cell after about twenty days, but they remain in their cell for a few days to allow their soft skin to harden. The honey bee exits the cell as a fully developed adult and begins fulfilling its role in the hive.

"Life Cycle of the Honey Bee." The Terroir of Honey, 22 May 2016, http://blogs.evergreen.edu/terroir-zack/life-cycle-of-the-honey-bee/. 

Below is an image of the honey bee life cycle.]]> 2018-11-02 16:11:06 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/299867032 Additional Honey Bee Hive Information sydneyessler16 https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/299918650 Below is a website that contains additional information about how honey bees make honey comb.]]> 2018-11-02 17:42:39 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/299918650 Additional Honey Bee Life Cycle Information sydneyessler16 https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/300111683 The webpage linked below contains a video that shows the development of a bee from egg to adult.]]> 2018-11-03 21:15:38 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/300111683 Additional Information about Honey Bees' Role in the Environment sydneyessler16 https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/300112436 Linked below is an informational page from the American Beekeeping Federation. This page contains information about bee as pollinators. ]]> 2018-11-03 21:25:34 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/300112436 Honey Production sydneyessler16 https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/300114992 The honey producing journey begins with gathering pollen and nectar. Honey bees fly as far as two miles away from the hive to gather nectar and pollen from flowers. The honey bee sucks in nectar from the flower and stores it in a separate nectar stomach. Honey bees collect pollen by brushing it from the flower into the pollen baskets on their legs. Once a honey bee has acquired as much pollen and nectar as it can, they fly back to the hive. Honey bees then pass the nectar from mouth to mouth until the moisture content of the substance is reduced. After passing the nectar around by regurgitating it, the honey bees place the processed nectar into honeycomb cells. They then fan their wings on the nectar to evaporate water and create honey. The average water percent change from nectar to honey is seventy to twenty, respectively. Some honey is mixed with pollen to create "bee bread" which is what honey bees in the larvae stage are fed. The rest of the honey is stored within capped honeycomb cells.

"How Bees Make Honey." Australian Honey Bee Industry Council, https://honeybee.org.au/education/wonderful-world-of-honey/how-bees-make-honey/. Accessed 9 Nov. 2018. 

The video attached below is another resource you can use to visualize the process of creating honey.]]> 2018-11-03 22:02:47 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/300114992 Additional Honey Bees Producing Honey Information sydneyessler16 https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/300133349 Below is another video that shows how bees make honey.]]> 2018-11-04 03:24:04 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/300133349 Different Roles sydneyessler16 https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/300133412 The three main roles of honey bees in a hive are queen, drone and worker. Queen bees lay all of the eggs in the hive. The queen bee is the longest bee in the hive, and she tends to have a pointier abdomen than worker and drone bees. Drone bees are characterized by larger eyes and lack of a stinger. They also are the widest type of bee. The sole purpose of drone bees is to mate with the queen. Worker bees complete all tasks that are not related to reproduction. These tasks include feeding larvae, preserving honey, making honeycomb, acquiring pollen and nectar, creating and storing honey, removing dead bees, bringing water into the hive, and maintaining the temperature of the hive. The tasks that a worker bee completes varies depending on how old it is.


Hadley, Debbie. "The Roles of Queens, Drones and Worker Honey Bees." ThoughtCo, Sep. 16, 2018, https://www.thoughtco.com/honey-bee-workers-drones-queens-1968099.

Click on the image below to see the three different types of bees.]]> 2018-11-04 03:25:45 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/300133412 Review Questions sydneyessler16 https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/300133419 What are three physical characteristics of honey bees? 

Why do honey bees utilize the hexagon shape when making honeycomb?

What are the three main stages of a honey bee's life?

How do honey bees help humans?

What do honey bees do to turn nectar into honey?

What is the purpose of each type of honey bee (queen, worker, drone)]]> 2018-11-04 03:25:54 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/300133419 Discussion Questions sydneyessler16 https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/300133695 How could honey bees evolve to be even more equipped to produce honey and pollinate? 

Did honey bees start out utilizing the hexagonal shape for their honeycomb? Or was it more of a trial and error process?

How could one relate stages of a honey bee's life to stages of a human's life?

How would honey bees going extinct affect humans?

How do honey bees know when the nectar has become honey?

Which role in the hive is the most important?]]> 2018-11-04 03:34:42 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/300133695 Additional Information of the Different Roles of Honey Bees sydneyessler16 https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/300136137 Attached below is a video with more information about the differences between queen, drone, and worker bees.]]> 2018-11-04 04:32:19 UTC https://padlet.com/sydneyessler16/ldwvc0shuzyf/wish/300136137