Why do bees buzz?: fascinating answers to questions about bees

Preface

Acknowledgments

1. Bee Basics

1. What are bees?

2. What is special about honey bees?

3. How many species of bees exist?

4. How are bees classified?

5. What is the earliest evidence of the existence of bees?

6. Where in the world are bees found?

7. Do all bees make honey?

8. Are there different types of bees within one hive of honey bees?

9. What is the role of the workers?

10. What is the role of the drones?

11. What is the role of the queen?

12. Why are bees important?

2. Bee Bodies

1. How does a honey bee develop from an egg to an adult?

2. What do larvae eat?

3. What do bees eat?

4. How long do bees live?

5. Are bees intelligent?

6. Does a bee have a heart?

7. Do bees bleed?

8. How do bees breathe?

9. What do bees see?

10. Do bees have bones?

11. How do bees' wings work?

12. What are the antennae used for?

13. How do bees hold onto slippery surfaces?

3. Bee Behavior

1. Can a bee hear?

2. Is taste important to a bee?

3. How do hungry bees share food?

4. How do bees keep themselves clean?

5. Why do bees buzz?

6. How do bees communicate?

7. What is the waggle dance?

8. What is piping behavior?

9. Can bees tell time?

10. Do bees sleep?

11. Do bees perceive magnetic fields?

12. How do bees navigate?

13. How do bees sense and use polarized light?

14. Do bees ever get fooled by predators?

4. Bee Love

1. How does a bee attract a mate?

2. Do all bees mate?

3. How do bees mate?

4. Why does a queen mate with more than one drone?

5. How many eggs does a honey bee queen lay in a day?

6. How is the sex of a bee determined?

7. What is royal jelly and how does it produce a queen?

8. How is the queen bee chosen?

9. Can bees of one species mate with another species?

10. Can bees be artificially inseminated?

5. Bees in the Hive

1. How many bees are in a colony?

2. How do bees construct their nest?

3. What do bees do all day?

4. Do any bees forage at night?

5. How does the queen control the hive?

6. What is meant by "balling" the queen?

7. What is honeycomb?

8. What is propolis?

9. What is a brood comb?

10. Is there a yearly cycle in the hive?

11. What happens if the bees run out of honey?

6. Bees at Work

1. Why do bees pollinate flowers?

2. Which crops are pollinated by bees?

3. How do flowers attract bees?

4. Are there any flowers that bees prefer or avoid?

5. How do farmers make sure there are enough bees to pollinate their crops?

6. How much weight in pollen can a bee carry?

7. Do bees ever stop collecting nectar?

8. What is buzz pollination?

9. How do bees make beeswax?

10. How is beeswax used in different cultures?

7. Honey

1. What is honey?

2. How does nectar become honey?

3. Why are there so many different kinds of honey?

4. Is honey good for you?

5. What is flea honey or honeydew?

6. How much work does it take for bees to make a jar of honey?

7. How much honey is gathered in the United States every year?

8. Can honey be toxic to humans?

9. What is mead?

8. Bees on the Move

1. Do bees ever move out of their hive?

2. What is swarming?

3. How can you tell when bees are about to swarm?

4. How does the swarm locate its new home?

5. What is supercedure?

6. Do bees migrate?

7. How far do bees fly?

8. How high do bees fly?

9. How do bees locate nectar-rich flowers?

10. How do foraging bees find their way home?

11. What happens to flying bees in bad weather?

12. What is playflight behavior?

9. Bee Stings and Other Defenses

1. Do all bees sting?

2. What does it feel like to be stung by a bee?

3. How does a bee sting?

4. Why do bees sting?

5. Do killer bees really exist?

6. Does a bee die after it has stung somebody?

7. How do stingless bees defend themselves?

8. Is being stung by a bee dangerous?

9. What is bee venom?

10. Does collecting venom kill the bees?

11. How can you avoid being stung by a bee?

12. Are there any natural remedies for bee stings?

10. Dangers to Bees

1. What dangers threaten bees in the environment?

2. How do bees survive harsh weather?

3. What parasites and insects prey on bees?

4. Which other animals prey on bees?

5. Does a bee heal if it gets injured?

6. Do bees get viruses or fungal infections?

7. How are bee diseases spread?

8. Do bees ever need antibiotic drugs?

9. What is dysentery for a bee?

10. What is colony collapse disorder?

11. Beekeeping

1. Is beekeeping dangerous?

2. What does a beekeeper's hive look like?

3. How do beehives vary in other countries?

4. What is a bee skep?

5. How does a beekeeper manage a hive?

6. How does a beekeeper take honey from a hive?

7. Can the beekeeper stop the bees from swarming?

8. Why do some beekeepers clip the queen's wings?

9. Can the beekeeper put a new queen in the hive if the old one dies?

10. What is a smoker?

11. How is beeswax harvested?

12. How can I start my own hive?

13. Are there any reasons why people should not keep bees?

14. How can I safely observe bees?

Appendices

A. Bee Organizations

B. Suggestions for Further Reading

References

Index