Honeybees - Angels of Agriculture

Credit: NC State Apiculture Program

Did you know?

• Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are the most important pollinators of agricultural crops—required for ⅓ of the food Americans eat.

• Each hive can have 30–50,000 bees living in it. The hive includes one queen, a couple hundred male drones, and the rest female workers.

• Bees only fly when temperature is 53°F or higher, collecting nectar from flowers for energy and pollen for protein

• Bees visit thousands of flowers in order to make one teaspoon of honey.

• In the winter, bees keep the inside of the hive at warm (about 93°F year round) by clustering and shivering. In the summer they may sit outside the hive or fan the hive by flapping their wings.

• North Carolina has the most beekeepers per capita. Some of the crops that could not be produced without honey bees include: apples, cucumbers, squash, watermelons and many of the berry crops.