Why Bees Are So Important
Bees are responsible for pollinating around one third of all the food we eat. Without them, crops would probably disappear. Bees pollinate wild plants, providing food and shelter for other wildlife, making them essential to entire ecosystems.
If we lost bees it would have a devastating impact on food production worldwide.
Honeybees
Honeybees: They live in colonies of up to 60,000, and only female workers sting.
There are a few species of honeybee. The Western honeybee is the most common.. They communicate through a “waggle dance” to tell other bees where to find food. ‘The waggle dance’ is a figure of eight movement’ and it is intended to communicate to other bees where there is a good food source, which has been found by the others.
Bumblebees
Bumblebees: They can fly and exist in colder temperatures than other bees. They “buzz pollinate” by vibrating flowers to release pollen, and colonies. But they die off relatively soon, although the Qeen bee survives much longer.
Solitary Bees
Solitary bees: These make up to 90% of all bee species and don’t produce honey. They are actually more efficient at pollinators than honeybees.
Stingless Bees
Stingless bees: Found mainly in tropical regions. Their honey is more liquid than regular honey and has been used medicinally for centuries.
Carpenter Bees
Carpenter bees: The males can’t sting at all, and females rarely do. The males are important pollinators for open-faced flowers. They get their name, because they are good at making holes where they can polinate flowers.
Mining Bees
Mining bees: 1,300 species of them. Nestling in small burrows underground, hence why they are called, ‘Mining Bees’. They are harmless, just like miners :)