Heart of Texas Honey: Facts

Is Honey Expensive:

One pound of honey requires about 2 million visits to flowers

One bee will produce about 1/12 of a teaspoon it its lifetime

Bees have 5 eyes
Bees have 6 legs
Workers die when they sting but the Queen can sting over and over again - her stinger is not barbed.
Bees have 2 pairs of wings

Did you know:

The hive is kept at 93% Fahrenheit year round?
The hive controls the type of bees that are hatched (they give special food, for a longer duration, to produce a queen)?
It's a Woman's world? Males only comprise about 15% of a hive and do no work.
Bees are clean freaks - they don't poo in the house (except the queen who rarely leaves) and they are constantly cleaning their hive.

Fewer Bees Mean Higher Demand on Agricultural Land:

Loss of animal pollination reduces productivity by 3 - 8%
Cultivated area must increase to compensate for decreases in per acre productivity caused by the lack of pollinators.
Agriculture is becoming more dependent on animal pollination
Don't take my word on it, read this article How much does agriculture depend on pollinators? Lessons from long-term trends in crop production

Amazing Adaptations:

Bees will hiss at predatory wasps
Bees perform "heat balling" to kill invadors, raising the temperature around the hornets to the point that they die.
Bees perform "shimmering" which consists of dazzling movements in mass to confuse predators
Bees collect "poo" from other animals and "paint" it around the entrance to their hives to disuade predators. Research shows it reduces the time the predator will spend at the entrance.
Don't take my word on it, read this article Bees Paint Animal Poo on Their Homes to Repel Giant Hornets

More Coming Soon