Bees in their immature stages are eaten by indigenous people in Africa, Asia, Australia, South America, and Mexico. Bees in their egg, larval, or pupal form taste like almonds. ¹⁾

A few groups of mainly tropical bees have independently evolved a nocturnal lifestyle. ²⁾

The queen bee is groomed and fed at all times. Attention is needed for her to lay eggs. The queen can lay from 600 and up to 1500 eggs each day! ³⁾

To make it easier for a bee to fly, the two wings on the left and the right side of its body hook together to form one pair, but they unhook when the bee is not flying. This means that bees have four wings in total and not two. ⁴⁾

We all know what a honeycomb looks like. It is made of many hexagonal holes. However, the holes aren't hexagons in the beginning. The bees are responsible for creating circular tubes that stagger with each other. The activity of the bees causes heat, which in turn melts the wax. The wax seals the gaps between the holes, and once it hardens, the most energy-efficient shape is created: the hexagon. ⁵⁾

The buzzing sound comes from honey bees beating their wings 200 times per second! They can also visit up to 100 flowers on a single trip. ⁶⁾

Arthropods, like bees, have compound eyes. A honey bee has around 5.500 ommatidia per eye. Despite their simple eye structure and small brain, honey bees could recognize individual human faces. ⁷⁾

The average bee will produce only 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey during its lifetime. ⁸⁾

A honey bee visits 50 to 100 flowers per trip. ⁹⁾

Honey bees communicate with each other by dancing. ¹⁰⁾

A bee colony consists of 20000-60000 honey bees and one queen. The worker bees are female and live about 6 weeks doing all the work. ¹¹⁾

Honey is extremely healthy because it contains enzymes, vitamins, and minerals. It is the only food that contains “pinocembrin,” an antioxidant linked to improved brain function. ¹²⁾

Beekeepers use smoke to calm the bees as they harvest honey or move the hive. ¹³⁾

The honeybee is the only insect that produces food consumed by humans. ¹⁴⁾

Honey bees are not born with the knowledge of how to make honey. They are taught to do so in the hive by older bees. ¹⁵⁾

Bee stings may ease pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis. Researchers at the University of Sao Paulo found that bee venom particles increase levels of glucocorticoid, an anti-inflammatory hormone in the body. ¹⁶⁾

The bee's brain is oval and the size of a sesame seed, but it has a remarkable ability to learn and remember things. For example, it is able to make complex calculations about distance traveled and foraging efficiency. ¹⁷⁾

It is estimated that there are nearly 212,000 beekeepers in the United States. ¹⁸⁾

Honey doesn't spoil. An explorer who found a jar of honey in an Egyptian tomb 2,000 years ago said it tastes delicious! ¹⁹⁾