Fun Honey Bee Facts

Honey bees possess five eyes: two large compound eyes and three smaller ocelli (eyes at the center of their heads). Furthermore, they possess jointed legs.

A worker bee identifies food sources by dancing. This dance indicates their direction and proximity for other bees within its hive.

1. They have five eyes

Honey bees might seem creepy, but honey bees do indeed possess five eyes. Their two big compound eyes on either side of their heads contain thousands of tiny lenses which collectively form an image that allows the bee to perceive objects in three dimensions. Nerves from each lens pass signals back to its respective nerve ending in order to piece together an image for brain processing – helping bees detect motion faster than humans while also aiding navigation while in flight. This amazing sense of sight also assists bees when making flight decisions.

Bees also possess three smaller “simple” or ocelli eyes located on top of their heads in a triangular arrangement, known as simple or ocelli eyes. Although these do not form images like their compound eye counterparts do, they still act as light sensors allowing the bees to accurately judge light intensity and direction during foraging from dawn until dusk.

Scientists are still exploring why ocelli eyes possess hairs that grow from them; experts suspect this might help keep eye lenses cleaner. Another fascinating fact about bee eyes is their remarkable ability to remember and follow the sun throughout its day’s path, even on cloudy days; this allows bees to know when to begin or stop foraging and communicate their food sources to one another through their “waggle dance.”

2. They have a sense of smell

Although they’re often perceived as pest insects, bees actually provide many environmental services that benefit us in everyday life. For instance, they pollinate approximately 130 agricultural crops each year including fruit, fiber, nut and vegetable plants — contributing approximately $14 billion dollars each year toward increased crop yield and quality.

Bees use their sense of smell to find food, communicate among themselves and protect the hive from threats. Bees possess 170 olfactory receptors compared with only 10 gustatory ones; their sense of smell allows them to detect chemicals called pheromones released by other bees of their species for communication and behavior modification purposes.

Bees possess an exquisite sense of smell; their ability can detect molecules as minute as two parts per trillion, equivalent to one grain of salt in an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Furthermore, this ability enables bees to detect airborne odors via an extension of their proboscis.

Bumblebees produce an odor specific to their hive that tells guard bees when visitors have come from elsewhere. This chemical signature allows guard bees to identify newcomers as outsiders.

Bees possess an extraordinary sense of smell that allows them to detect flowers up to 200 feet away and locate sources of sustenance for their colonies, which is vital in ensuring survival of bee colonies.

Honey bees can differentiate between their own honey and that from another flower, as evidenced by an experiment conducted by an entomology team who gave parasite-infected honeybees the option between four types of honey and found that sunflower honey was chosen more often. Furthermore, sunflower honey was noted to possess additional antibiotic properties than its peers.

3. They have jointed legs

Humans possess joints in our knees and elbows to allow us to bend, perform various tasks and bend backwards when necessary. Bees have several jointed legs which enable them to perform all the duties needed in their short lives – from building and cleaning their hive, to getting from A to B quickly.

Bees use the exoskeleton as a protective shell that supports and protects them. Additionally, this structure helps regulate body temperature while collecting pollen; additionally it’s covered with hairs to help preserve scent, as well as featuring an unusual claw-like structure known as taste receptor.

Bees visiting flowers collect pollen that adheres to their bodies and use it to fill a special structure on their hind leg called a pollen basket, then carry it back to their hive where workers use it to produce honey or food products such as jam.

Bees possess an internal gland known as propolis gland which secretes a substance known as propolis, used as both natural glue and sealant within their hives to keep out pests. Bees collect resin from tree buds or bark and mix it with beeswax and pollen to produce this natural sealant which also serves to seal cracks in their homes while serving as a fungicide against mold growth and disease.

4. They don’t have knees

The knee is a complex joint in the human leg that connects upper and lower legs. Human knees feature two joints that compose it: the tibiofemoral joint and patellofemoral joint; bees however have only one joint linking their top legs to bottom legs (the tibia-tarsus joint), sometimes mistakenly called bee’s knee though this does not perform the same functions.

Bee’s knee actually serves as a pollen press – one of many functions provided by their hind legs to collect and transport nectar and pollen. Furthermore, bee’s “knee” can flex or extend for climbing and walking purposes.

Bees’ hind legs come equipped with pollen baskets – small compartments on their sides designed to store pollen weighing up to 80% of their own bodyweight – that allow them to carry loads of pollen that exceeds their own bodyweight. Once home, pollen can be transferred back into its own pollen basket before processing into honey production.

Bees knees are essential as most bees in a hive are female worker bees that must carry loads of nectar and pollen around. Female worker bees have special ability to sting by using their modified version of an egg-laying structure as their stinger to penetrate skin; male bees do not possess this special trait and therefore cannot collect pollen or nectar for their colony.

5. They don’t sleep

Bees possess an acute sense of smell. With over 170 odorant receptors and the ability to detect scents 10x further than humans can, this sense is crucial in finding pollen, water sources, and other food sources essential to their diet. Furthermore, their social instinct is also strong. Pheromones produced by queen bees can regulate reproductive development among other bees and maintain hierarchy within their hives, as well as tell whether an insect is worker or queen status; of course, queen bees play an extremely critical role within any colony. She is responsible for laying all of the eggs, and her presence is crucial in maintaining hive health. Furthermore, the queen bee’s pheromones help communicate with other bees – sending signals when she is feeling happy or needing additional food or pollen from other members.

Bees possess impressive stinging abilities, with worker bees sporting barbed stingers while queen bees have smooth ones designed to kill her opponents. Bees also utilize their stinging ability for defense purposes by emitting alarm pheromones that repel potential threats against their hive.

Honey bees don’t sleep the way humans do, but they still require restful respite. Honey bees take small naps throughout a 24-hour cycle that last several seconds or minutes long in order to remember their tasks and information more effectively; without this rest, their performance during their famous “waggle dance” becomes less precise; without enough restful naps they cannot find flowers with enough nectar or pollen to nourish themselves properly.