ODNR Division of Wildlife - A to Z Species Guide - Honey Bee

 Honey Bee

Honey bee

 		 Honey bees produce honey as a source of food for the long winter months when nectar is not available to them. Humans have learned to raise these bees for the sole purpose of producing honey. The buzzing sound made by the bees is actually their wings stroking 11,400 times per minute!
 

Honey Bee
Apis spp.

At-a-Glance

• Typical foods: nectar and honey
 
Description
These insects are covered with short, dense gold and black hairs. The abdomen is striped black.

Habitat and Habits
Bees live pretty much anywhere around flowering plants and trees.

Reproduction and Care of the Young
Honey bees live in colonies made up of a queen, drones and workers. The queen (the biggest bee) mates with male drones and produces all of the eggs in the colony. Workers are smaller females that tend to the eggs and collect nectar.