10 interesting facts about honey bees you might not know

Bees are some of the most important creatures we share this planet with. In fact, these buzzing beauties are responsible for almost one out of every three bites of food we eat. With that in mind, it’s important to teach future generations the importance of protecting our friends, the bees.

Here are some interesting facts.

1. Bees have five eyesand six legs
2. Honey bees live in hives (or colonies). The members of the hive are divided into three types: Queen, Workers, and Drones.
3. There are more than 20,000 species of bees.
4. Bees can see all colours except red. That and their sense of smell help them find the flowers they need to collect pollen.
5. The average beehive can house around 50,000 bees.
6. Each bee has 170 odorant receptors, which means they have one serious sense of smell.
7. Worker bees go from one flower to another, collecting nectar. In one collection trip, a bee visits 50 to 100 flowers.
8. The queen bee lays all of the eggs in a colony. At the height of the season, she may layover 2,500 eggs per day.
9. Honey bees are great flyers. They fly at a speed of around 25km per hour and beat their wings 200 times per second.
10. It takes 21 days for an egg to develop into an adult worker bee and 19 days for the queen.