🍯 Build the Hive Challenge
Can You Help the Honey Bee Fill the Hive?
Fly five foraging missions. Every answer sends your bee closer to home, and every correct choice fills a golden honeycomb cell. Complete the hive to unlock your award.
What do worker honey bees collect from flowers?
Where does a honey bee colony usually live?
What is the queen honey bee’s primary role?
How can honey bees share directions to a rich food source?
What is one strong way a family can help honey bees?
Your hive award is ready!
Honey Bees: Essential Pollinators for Our Food and Future
The western honey bee (Apis mellifera) is the species most U.S. beekeepers keep. Look closely at a worker on a flower. She may be sipping nectar, or she may be packing pollen onto her hind legs. When she visits the next flower, pollen on her body can brush against it.
Follow a worker from flower to hive
Workers can visit flowers in an orchard, field or garden. Back at the hive, nectar and pollen serve different purposes. For example, workers turn nectar into honey that the colony can store. Pollen helps feed the growing young. When one kind of flower finishes blooming, the next patch can keep a forager supplied.
Who lives inside the colony?
The queen lays eggs. Workers feed the larvae, shape wax cells and keep the nest running. Drones are male and can mate with a queen from another colony. Look at the University of Florida’s illustrated guide to colony members to compare their eyes and body shapes.
How did honey bees reach North America?
European colonists brought the western honey bee to North America. Many other kinds of bees already lived here. Today, a visit to an apple tree in bloom can reveal both managed honey bees and wild native bees. Look for differences in size and where each bee carries pollen. Our mining bee guide shows another spring orchard visitor.
Answers to Honey Bee Questions
How do workers get their name?
Workers are the colony members that clean cells, feed young, build comb, guard the entrance and forage. A worker usually does different jobs as she ages.
What does pollen provide?
Pollen supplies protein and fats. Workers use that food as they raise the colony’s young. In contrast, nectar supplies sugars that fuel flight and other activity.
How do honey bees communicate?
Watch a forager return to the hive. She may use a waggle dance to share the direction and distance of a food source. Chemical signals also help bees recognize members of their colony and care for its young.
What happens when a colony swarms?
Usually the old queen departs with a group of workers. A new queen can take over in the original nest. In the meantime, the departing bees may gather temporarily on a branch while scouts look for a new home.
What if a swarm appears near people?
Keep a safe distance and give the cluster space. If you can do so safely, take a photo and note how high it is and how long it has been there. Ask your local beekeeper association about a swarm contact. Cornell’s swarm guide explains what to report.
Can I tell a colony’s ancestry by looking?
A photograph can help identify a honey bee, but color or behavior alone cannot establish a colony’s ancestry. If a colony is defensive near a path or building, keep people away and consult a qualified local professional.
How should a beekeeper manage swarm or pest problems?
Start with an inspection and a confirmed diagnosis. Conditions change with season and location. Local Extension specialists can advise on monitoring and treatment options. The University of Florida guide to swarm control is a starting point for managed colonies.