Raven's aunt keeps honey bees. Rocket peeks at the hive from a safe distance. Bees zoom in and out.
"It looks so busy," Rocket says. "Is anyone in charge?"
"What do you notice about the bees at the door?" Raven asks.
Nova scans the hive entrance. "Different bees are doing different things," she says. "Find the jobs."
A honey bee colony has three kinds of bees. There is one queen, many workers and some drones.
The queen lays the eggs. She can lay up to 2,000 eggs in one day!
A strong colony needs tens of thousands of worker bees.
Worker bees do different jobs as they get older.
| Worker job | What the bee does |
|---|---|
| Cell cleaner | Cleans out cells so the queen can lay new eggs |
| Nurse bee | Feeds the young bees |
| Guard bee | Protects the hive from animals that try to get in |
| Forager | Collects pollen, nectar and water outside the hive |
Worker bees also fan their wings at the hive door. This helps keep the hive at the right temperature.
One bee alone could not run a hive.
The queen lays eggs, but she does not gather food.
Workers clean, feed young, guard and forage. Each job helps the whole colony.
With tens of thousands of workers, every job gets done.
| Statement | True or false? |
|---|---|
| A colony has one queen. | ? |
| The queen can lay up to 2,000 eggs in a day. | ? |
| Every worker does the same job its whole life. | ? |
| Workers fan their wings at the hive door. | ? |
Buzzing good work! Tomorrow you build a model of a penguin huddle.