Day #15 "More Fun Bee Facts"

I used to think I worked hard at caring for my children when they were babies. All those wide-awake nights, all those feedings, all those diapers (cloth, not disposable!), all those little hand-sewn outfits...

Well, I don't know what dinosaurs had to go through to rear their babies, but we humans have an easy job compared to bees. Before the queen bee can lay an egg, 25 to 30 bees work about 41 minutes to prepare the cell for her. Then, once the egg has become a larva, 1,300 bees visit it, doing baby-tending stuff. In fact, each larva will get 7,200 bee visits during its stay in the cell. Once it hatches, 60 bees work at cleaning the cell to ready it for the next egg.

Once again, I took these facts from The Beekeeper's Handbook, that was loaned to me by an experienced beekeeper who belongs to the Gwinnett Beekeepers Club. I think this link will get you there: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=100550333343398. Beekeepers are generous people, willing to share their expertise. I'm going to have to get my own copy of that book, though, so he can loan his copy to somebody else.

One more fact: One bee can collect anywhere from 250,000 to 600,000 grains of pollen at a time. I keep being amazed by these little critters.

BeeAttitude for Day #15:
    Blessed are they who advise brand new beekeepers, for they shall help us bees get better treatment.