1. Agriculture greatly depends on honey bees, and their pollination duties. They’re responsible for the growth of 50 different cash crops in the U.S., with an estimated total value of $20 billion. Of that figure, $2.5 billion is from California’s bee-pollinated almond industry alone.
2. And we’re lucky they’re here at all. Bees are not native to North America. They were brought over by European settlers who knew their value even back in the 1600s.
3. The average speed of a bee in flight: about 15 miles per hour.
4. Why do bees buzz? That’s the sound of their wings, which flap at a rate of 11,000 times a second. Come face to face with fascinating bugs in this stunning photographic collection, Eyes on Insects!
5. They work hard, but they’re very small — over the course of its life, a honeybee will generate one-half of one teaspoon of honey.
6. A pound of honey is the result of the collected efforts of lots of bees, having tapped around two million flowers to make that jar.
7. Bees have two stomachs — one for food, and one for storing honey.
