66 Fascinating Facts about Bees [Free Fact Cards]

Are you buzzing with curiosity about one of the most important insects in our world? Let’s dive into the fascinating life of bees with these fun facts about bees! These tiny creatures are not just makers of honey; they’re super important for gardens, farms, and even the food we eat. So, let’s put on our imaginary bee suits and explore the amazing world of bees!

Did you know that bees are amazing builders? They live in hives, which are like busy bee cities made of wax. Inside the hive, there are tons of little hexagon-shaped rooms called cells. Bees use these cells to store honey and take care of their baby bees, called larvae.

Bees are also famous for making honey, and they’re really good at it! They collect nectar from flowers with their tongues, kind of like using a tiny straw. Then, back at the hive, they turn this nectar into honey. Honey is not just tasty; it’s also how bees feed themselves during winter when no flowers are around.

But that’s not all—bees have an important job called pollination. When they visit flowers to collect nectar, they also carry pollen from one flower to another. This helps plants make fruits and seeds. Without bees, we wouldn’t have lots of the yummy fruits and vegetables we love!

Are you ready to learn more facts about bees, these incredible insects? From their dance language to how they help our planet, bees are buzzing with secrets and surprises. Let’s keep exploring and learn more about bees’ busy, buzzy lives!

Don’t forget to grab your free bee fact cards below! 

Are you collecting all our fact cards? Be sure to grab our facts about frogs and our Facts About Owls.

Best Facts about Bees

1. It would take 3800 bee stings to kill the average human.
2. Apis Mellifera is the scientific name for Honey bees.
3. No matter the weather outside the hive, either hot or cold, the inside temperature of the central brood is 92 to 93 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. Bees use pheromones to communicate with each other.
5. An average beehive can hold up to 50,000 bees.

6. Solitary bees live below ground.
7. Bumble bees can smell the scent of those bees that have visited a flower, knowing if it was them or another bee that they are related to.
8. A forager bee will make about 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.
9. Bees have 8 paired glands on their body that they use to produce beeswax.
10. Mead is a drink that is fermented honey.

11. The shape of the honeycomb structure of a hexagon makes super efficient use of beeswax and makes it less wasteful.
12. One job of a set of worker bees is to get rid of the dead bees that do not make it out of the hive.
13. The antennae have over 300 sensors for tasting.
14. A queen bee’s daily egg production may equal her body weight.
15. A bee would only need one ounce of honey to fly around the world.

16. When a bee stings you and loses its stinger, it will die.
17. A bee can fly at 20 mph.
18. Bees love flowers like traditional cottage garden flowers and native wildflowers.
19. There have been bees on the earth for 30 million years.
20. Honey is the only food that humans eat that is made by insects.

21. The temperature is what will make a bee active or not.
22. There were coins in Ancient Greece that had bees on them.
23. It takes 15 minutes for the whole hive to know that the queen is missing.
24. The term honeymoon comes from the large amount of Mead people would drink in the months after getting married.
25. Honey is made of 80% sugar and 20% water.

26. Female bees are the only ones that can sting.
27. Bees are very neat and clean; they are known to groom each other and keep things neat and tidy.
28. Worker bees live longer in the winter, about 6 months, than in the spring or summer 4 weeks.
29. Bees’ eyes are hairy.
30. Bees have six legs making them insects.

31. Social bees like Honey bees live in hives above ground.
32. The bee’s “waggle dance” is actually how bees tell each other where to find the best food.
33. It takes nectar from about 2 million flowers to make 1 pound of honey from a bee.
34. Putting a bumble bee that looks like it is distressed on a bee-friendly flower will revive it.
35. A queen bee can mate with 17 drones in a 1 to 2-day time frame in the mating period.

36. The honey bee’s sense of smell is 50 times more powerful than a dog’s.
37. The buzz of a bee’s wings comes from the fact that their wings stoke 11,400 times per minute.
38. Bees have a pollen basket or curricula on their hind legs they use to carry pollen.
39. When a queen bee dies the worker bees will feed a larva special royal jelly and it will grow into a new queen bee.
40. Bees have five eyes.

41. Honey bees use their antennae, tongue, jaw, and even their front feet to taste things.
42. The venom of a bee is more deadly than that of a cobra.
43. Bees pollinate about 130 crops in the US, such as fruit, fiber, nuts, and vegetables.
44. Buff-tailed bumblebees have been trained to do tricks for sugary treats.
45. One out of every three mouthfuls of our food depends on pollinators such as bees.

46. The brain of a honey bee is about the size of a sesame seed.
47. To make one pound of honey, a bee needs to fly 90,000 miles or 3 times around the globe.
48. Drones are the male bees in a hive.
49. We scientifically study bees almost as much as we study humans.
50. Bees will take 40 to 50 naps a day, but when added up, they equal about 5 to 8 hours of sleep.

51. Bees have a stomach for eating and a stomach for storing nectar and producing honey with it.
52. A queen bee can lay 2000 eggs a day.
53. Queen bees do not eat or groom themselves. They have other bees that do that for them.
54. Bees can not see the color red.
55. Worker bees are female non-queen bees of the hive.

56. A group of 4000 bees weighs about one pound.
57. Bees have four wings, two on each side hook together to form one big wing when flying and unhook when they are not flying.
58. In one trip to collect pollen, a bee will visit 50 to 100 flowers.
59. In the US, 1.3 pounds of honey is consumed per capita.
60. The queen bee is about twice as long as the worker bees.

61. By pollinating crops, bees add $14 billion each year to improve crop yield and quality.
62. If left unattended, bees have been known to steal other bees’ honey.
63. In order to make a pound of beeswax, a bee needs to eat 17 to 20 pounds of honey.
64. Once a male drone bee mates, it dies.
65. Queen bees live about 2 to 3 years.

Do you have even more interesting facts about bees? Share them with us in the comments! Also, don’t forget to grab your free bee fact cards to add to your collection!