2 sweet weeks of facts about honey bees 13. While workers select which fertilized eggs to brood in queen or worker cells, the queen decides the sex of her young. In a mechanism of sex determination known as haplodiploidy, fertilized eggs will become female offspring, while unfertilized eggs will become males. (PBS NOVA) See our
2 sweet weeks of facts about honey bees 11. It’s Not Easy Being Queen In one day a queen can lay her weight in eggs. She will lay one egg per minute, day and night, for a total of 1,500 eggs over a 24-hour period and 200,000 eggs in a year. Should she stop her
2 sweet weeks of facts about honey bees 10. Bees are not fast fliers; while their wings beat over 11,000 cycles per minute, their flight speed averages only 15 miles per hour. In comparison, a true fly in the genusForcipomyiabeats its wings over 62,000 cycles per minute. The Australian dragonfly Austrophlebia costalis has been clocked
2 sweet weeks of facts about honey bees 9. Better to See You With Bees possess five eyes. The three ocelli are simple eyes that discern light intensity, while each of the two large compound eyes contains about 6,900 facets and is well suited for detecting movement. In fact, honeybees can perceive movements that are
2 sweet weeks of facts about honey bees 8. White Man’s Fly Most researchers believe the honeybee originated in Africa. The first European colonists introduced Apis mellifera, the common honeybee, to the Americas. Native Americans referred to the bees as “White Man’s Fly.” Today honeybees can be found all over the world. (PBS NOVA) See
