What do you know about honeybees? That they sting and make honey? But do you know that when bees sting you that they die? That they have jobs? That honeybees dance? That they are the only insects that produce a food that humans eat? That honey is one of the purest foods in the world?
A Nonfiction Book about Honeybees
Discover amazing honeybees. Learn about queens, drones, and workers. Find out how bees communicate by dancing. Read about beekeeping, bee diseases, and bee enemies. And finally, try out some recipes using honey. This new edition, revised and updated, will enchant readers seeking STEM related narrative nonfiction.
From the beginning of Chapter 2: Parts of the Honeybee
Have you ever seen a honeybee? If you have, then more than likely you saw a female, a worker honeybee. Most of the bees in a hive are female. There aren’t many male bees, or drones, in a hive. In a strong, healthy hive, there will be one queen bee (a female), a couple of hundred drones, and nearly 50,000 worker bees.
These worker bees are amazing. They can turn the nectar of flowers into honey. They are the only insects in the world that produce a food both for themselves and for humans. The delicious sweet honey that you spread on your toast was made for you by insects. Think of that!
To turn nectar into honey, bees first find flowers that have nectar and pollen. Second, they carry the nectar and pollen. Third, they navigate to and from the hive.
Worker bees’ bodies are designed perfectly for such tasks. Honeybees have five eyes. Three single eyes sit on top of the head in a triangular pattern and two “compound” eyes sit on each side of the head. There are more than 3,000 lenses in each of those compound eyes. Their eyes recognize the colors blue, yellow, and green and can see ultraviolet light. They can see flowers. They can recognize landmarks. And, they can recognize their home hive.
For other good STEM books for kids, read:
