Fredericksburg, Texas. Home to Main St. shopping, German food, numerous wineries, and… honey bees! I originally wanted to document this bright orange flower, but I was photobombed by this gorgeous honey bee!
Did you know honey bees represent only a small percent of bee species? Honey bees are the only surviving group of bees from the Apini tribe, which is under the Apisgenus. They are known for producing and storing honey, or liquefied sugar, as well as building impressively large nests using wax secreted by workers in a particular colony. How cool!
Honey bees are usually oval-shaped with golden-yellow colors and brown bands. Although the body color of honey bees varies between species and some honey bees have predominantly black bodies, almost all honey bees have varying dark-to-light striations. These light and dark stripes serve a purpose for the survival of the honey bee: unlike other species that hide when they sense predators close by, the brightly colored bodies of the honey bee act as a warning to predators or honey robbers of the honey bees’ ability to sting.
They are found worldwide and can be seen in many different locations, including Europe and the United States. Because honey bees are found worldwide, their nature and behavior can vary. For instance, while Italian honey bees are usually more docile, German and African honey bees can display extremely defensive behavior. However, all honey bees can become defensive when provoked and can chase humans or animals hundreds of feet.
It is truly terrifying that honey bees are disappearing at an alarming rate. All types of bees perform a vital task to the survival of agriculture—pollination. Most of our global food supply is pollinated by bees! It’s the bees which keep plants and crops alive. Without the bees, humans would have a difficult time trying to survive. Save the bees!
You can find my iNaturalist observation here.