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Karl von Frisch's work established that bees can accurately identify the direction and range from the hive to a food source (typically a patch of nectar-bearing flowers). A worker bee returns to the hive and signals to other workers the range and direction relative to the Sun of the food source by means of a waggle dance .
They tend to be solitary, but sometimes nest close together in aggregations. Species in the genus build cells in underground nests that are lined with a cellophane-like plastic secretion, a true polyester, [2] earning them the nickname polyester bees. [3] As of 2012 there were about 469 described species, and an estimated total around 700. [4]
Western honey bees show several nest-site preferences: the height above ground is usually between 1 metre (3.3 ft) and 5 metres (16 ft), entrance positions tend to face downward, equatorial-facing entrances are favored, and nest sites over 300 metres (980 ft) from the parent colony are preferred. [5] Most bees occupy nests for several years.
[2] [7] [8] Nests are usually found underground, such as in abandoned rodent dens. [7] [9] Colonies form comb-like nest structures with egg cells each containing several eggs. The queen will lay egg cells on top of one another. Colonies produce between 300 and 400 bees on average, with a large variation in the number of workers. [10]
Drones die off or are ejected from the hive by the worker bees in late autumn, dying from exposure and the inability to protect or feed themselves, and do not reappear in the bee hive until late spring. The worker bees evict them as the drones would deplete the hive's resources too quickly if they were allowed to stay. [3]
Turns out that ground bees do not damage yards, even if the little dirt mounds from their digging may look unattractive, according to DTEK Live Bee Removal. Ground bees are considered to be great ...
However many carpenter bees "rob" nectar by slitting the sides of flowers with deep corollae. Xylocopa virginica is one example of a species with such nectar robbing behavior. With their short labia the bees cannot reach the nectar without piercing the long-tubed flowers; they miss contact with the anthers and perform no pollination.
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