10 of the Most Interesting Facts About Bees & Honey

Have you ever wondered about bees and honey? Well, here are some amazing facts about honey, the bees who make it, and their hive.

1. A single bee weighs .00025 pounds. 4,000 bees together weigh only one pound. Each of the hives has 50,000 bees, weighing 12 pounds together.

2. A single bee can produce 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime. Hundreds of bees fly roughly 32,000 miles to gather 5 lbs of nectar from about 1,185,000 flowers to make one 9.5 oz. jar honey!

3. Bees can fly up to 12 mph. On every foraging trip, a bee will visit 50-100 flowers to collect nectar! They will fly a 3 miles radius to collect their foods.

4. Bees heat and cool their own hive to keep it between 93 and 95 degrees year-round. In cold weather, bees keep the hive warm by clustering together to generate body heat and by sealing cracks in the hive with propolis. In warm weather, the bees collect water and using their wings, the bees fan the water so that it evaporates into the air.

5. A Queen Bee will lay 800,000 eggs in her lifetime! The queen’s life is dedicated to reproduction, and she only leaves the hive once in her life to mate.

6. Bees are remarkably tidy. Bees are very meticulous. They groom each other and keep their hive incredibly clean.

7. The hexagonal shape of the honeycomb is the most efficient shape known. The pattern allows for the cells to be packed with no empty space in between. Though the wax is thin and delicate the structure of the hexagonal cells can hold a tremendous amount of weight.

8. Bees communicate by dancing! The most discussed is the waggle dance. In this dance, the bee makes two semi-circles and then runs the diameter of the circle. The straight side of the semi-circle shows direction, the running speed shows distance and the intensity shows the nectar’s sweetness and quantity. There is the alarm dance, cleaning dance, joy dance and more!

9. Bees are known to raid other hives and steal honey! Bees “rob” honey from other bees if honey from another hive is available or if times are lean. However, if a guard bee from the robbed hive catches an interloper (detecting the foreign smell of the intruder), the two will engage in battle—stinging to the death. If the robber makes it into the hive unnoticed, she will gain the scent of the hive that she can come in and out without being detected as an intruder.

10. A Bee’s diet consists of honey and pollen. Honey and pollen are the building blocks of a bee’s diet. Bees eat honey because it provides them with energy-laden carbohydrates, while pollen’s protein provides bees with essential amino acids. The queen’s staple food is a special honey and pollen mixture called “royal jelly.” Royal jelly contains more pollen and honey than other bee larval jelly.

Four Cedars Honey & Gifts

8066 US Hwy 12 Glenoma WA

Beekeeping supplies, local raw honey and gifts items made by local crafters.

Open 11am to 5pm Friday & Saturday or by appointment 360.496.4136