Totally different Types of Bees

We tend to’ve all eaten honey, and many folks supplement our diets by eating beneficial bee byproducts like bee pollen. But, there are plenty of completely different species of bees; that ones build honey, and what do other kinds of bees do?

There are regarding twenty five,000 identified species of bees worldwide (about four,000 in the United States), all of that are classified underneath the superfamily Apoidea. These are divided into nine families, four of that are very small in terms of numbers of species.

We tend to are most acquainted with one family of bees, Apidae, which includes honey bees and bumblebees. Honey bees, after all, turn out honey; these are social bees that live in colonies of 50,000 to 60,000 workers, 300 drones, and usually a single queen. Honey bee colonies are terribly complex in terms of behavior and overall perform; these bees behave for the survival of the colony, and not for individual survival. There are 10 broad types of honey bee worldwide, and one hybrid selection, the Africanized bee, or “killer bee.” The European honey bee is most commonly kept by beekeepers, for the aim of harvesting honey and bee byproducts.

Bumblebees are also from the family Apidae, however bumblebee colonies are abundant smaller than those of honey bees, typically hosting solely some hundred employee bees. Like honey bees, bumblebees are wonderful pollinators of various flowers; their bodies are quite furry, trapping pollen simply as the bees move from flower to flower to eat. And bumblebees do after all build honey, similar in texture and style to honey from honey bees however greenish-golden in tint rather than the pure golden color of standard honey. Bumblebees build comparatively small quantities of honey — their colonies are therefore tiny — and it’s troublesome to harvest, thus bumblebee honey is sometimes not found on the market.

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There are nonetheless a lot of members of the Apidae family, solitary rather than colonizing. Digger bees usually build their nests within the soil, rearing their young in soil tunnels; their bodies are bushy, and sometimes up to three centimeters long. Digger bees often nest in shut proximity to every other, giving the looks of a colony, however every female is acting independently, protecting and collecting pollen for her young. These bees are nonaggressive and will not sting unless they’re trapped in clothing. Carpenter bees, on the other hand, nest in previous wood; like digger bees, they are solitary, but usually nest in shut proximity to each other.

Leafcutter bees and mason bees are members of the Megachilidae family; they are solitary, with leafcutters creating nests in hollow plant stems and prepared-created holes in wood and mason bees nesting in old mortar and numerous crevices. With solitary bees, it is the female that mates and rears her young on her own; as with social bees, the males serve no purpose alternative than to mate with fertile females. Many of these solitary bees are increasingly being reared commercially for pollination purposes, particularly as honey bee populations around the world are dwindling for as nonetheless unexplained reasons.

Mining bees belong to the Andrenidae family; this family contains thousands of species around the world. Also solitary, mining bees excavate tunnels and cells underground in that to rear their young; their tunnels are typically visible as small mounds in the ground, resembling worm casts. A nest might consist of a main tunnel with five or six branches each containing an egg cell. Mining bees like sandy soil. They do not cause any injury to a garden, and should be welcomed as effective pollinators.

Bees of the Halictidae family are typically referred to as “sweat bees” as a result of they’re attracted by perspiration; females can give a minor sting if trapped. These bees nest in the bottom or in wood, and they are social, though their caste system differs from that of honey bees or bumblebees. And therefore the Colletidae family contains plasterer bees, therefore known as as a result of they sleek the walls of their nest cells with secretions that dry into a lining resembling cellophane. These are solitary bees, found largely in Australia and South America.

Four other bee families — Melittidae, Meganomiidae, Dasypodaidae, and Stenotritidae — are very little in variety of species; these rare bees are found in Africa or Australia.

Bees are abundant additional diverse in sort and behavior than would at initial appear. You’re presumably to encounter honey bees and bumblebees, but most all bees are effective pollinators, and as such a valuable link in our global ecosystem.
Robert Mccormack has been writing articles online for nearly 2 years now. Not only does this author specialize in Bee-Pollen-Health, Different Types of Bees. You can also check out his latest website about: Bee-Pollen-Health Different Types of Bees
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