Cracker Bee Honey

Another February honey bee!!

European honey Bee (Apis mellifera) on Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas)

Feb. 28, 2018

honey is bees spit

It’s actually diluted bee regurgitation. Bees collect nectar and store it in a honey crop (sometimes called a “honey stomach” but it’s not a stomach at all, more of a storage sac), where it’s mixed with an enzyme. The nectar is then regurgitated into honey comb and that’s how honey is made.

Its come to my attention recently that a few of my bee lover friends are having trouble finding the difference between bumble bees and honey bees. 

But that’s okay because it has inspired me to write this post to clear up any confusion!!

Bumble bees and honey bees are actually very different!

Bumble bees have small, round, fluffy bodies and look like this: 

Honey bees are more slender and are less fluffy. They look like this:

Both bees are not overly aggressive when protecting their nest, but will sting to defend themselves or their colony. 

Honey bees can only sting once, whereas bumble bees are capable of stinging multiple times (bumble bees are pretty hardcore)

Bumble bee queens live for one year and other members of the hive only live for three. 

Honey bee queens can live for more than three years (honeybee queens are pretty hardcore too)

Bumble bee colonies are much smaller than honey bee colonies, with only a population of a few hundred compared to the honey bee colony which can have up to tens of thousands. 

Bumble Bee Aesthetic ; requested by anon