Did you know that...?
...from
most ancient times, for many nations, the bee was the symbol of
diligence and fidelity? We can find even today the face of a bee on the
coins of many countries (like:Italy, Norway, Republic of Malta)....after the invention of the mobile hive with frames, the beekeeping became national, but it had to pass another 130 years before this invention be would widely used?
...there are more species of animals and plants whose naming is related with bees and their products( melissa, bear honey and so on etc)?
...the bees that guard the hive recognize after a specific odor the foreign bees that try to enter the hive? Every family has its specific odor produced by some special glands called Nassonov.
...You can recognize an "old thief" bee after her bald, black-gloss body ? It became so after fighting with bees that snatched her all the hair of the body with their mandibles.
...Power wires of high voltage have a negative influence upon the activity and vitality of the bees? It affects the productivity of bee families and makes them aggressive.
...the word "nectar" means "the drink of gods" and the legend tells that this product offers eternal life?
...larva from which is born a queen increases its weight up to 3,000 times in 5 days while the larva of a worker bee only 1500 times?
...in extreme conditions, the bees have a rate of survival 5-6 times greater than man?
...Queen's lifespan is 50-60 times higher than the one of a worker bee?
...usually bees collect nectar from a distance of up to 2 km from the apiary?
...if necessary, the bees can gather nectar even at distances up to 3 km away and the weak families fly up to 1 km while the strong ones up to 3-4 km?
...flight distance from hive to the area of picking up food depends on many factors: the strength of family, climate, season and time of day, intensity and concentration of the nectar plant?
...bees can be used to detect landmines?
...to get a kilo of honey, bees collect nectar from about 2 million of Acacia flowers ?
...a bee can visit 24 flowers in one minute?
...bees can communicate with each other in three ways: by using antennas, by smell and also by "dancing"? The dance in a circle means that the food is at a distance of 100m from the hive while dancing in the form of eight shows the direction and the fact that food is at a distance greater than 100m.
...Bees can not see the color red but they see ultraviolet light, invisible to our eyes?
...the bee is the only insect domesticated by man?
...the chances to be stung by a bee grow if it is windy outside?
...in agriculture, pollination of entomophilous plants can increase production by up to 75-80%?
...in the 80s, a parasite brought from Asia to Europe decimated the european bee populations?The Varroa destructor, an accarian,is extremely resistant and is considered the greatest threat to the bee population and the infestation of colonies leads, in most cases, to death.
...in Germany, honey consumption per capita is around 4 kilograms, representing one of the highest rates in the world?
