Habitat: 

 All habitats

Food: 

 Flower nectar and pollen

Size: 

 Up to 1.6 inches long (as long as a large paperclip)

Babies: 

 Newly hatched bees do cleanup work around the hive.

A single bee can collect enough nectar to make 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey.

Bees fly from flower to flower, sipping nectar and collecting grains of pollen. Bees have a special tongue that sucks up the nectar and a crop in their throat for storing it until they get back to the hive, where it is turned into honey to use as food.

 

Many plants depend on bees to spread pollen, helping them to reproduce. Flowers that attract bees are usually yellow, blue, or purple. Many bees specialize in one plant species. In areas where different flowering plants bloom at the same time, this keeps different bee species from fighting over the same flower!

 

Honeybees and bumblebees live in colonies or hives. All the bees in the colony work together for the good of the hive. Each has a job to do: the queen lays the eggs and the workers build the honeycomb, care for the larvae and collect the food.

We can all do our bit to support these brilliant bugs, gang! Why not plant flowers rich in nectar, such as lavender and bluebells, which will help bees find the food they need? Also, be sure to choose local British honey, too, which will support our Honey bees and their beekeepers!