Page 11 - Sports Energy News, Cornwall, Issue No 149

www.sportsenergynews.com Issue #149 June 2025 11

Reloadable
Card

Touch-Free Automatic
Vehicle Wash
Get your Splash N’ Go Reloadable wash card
Our Regular Deal Buy 5, get 1 free, buy 10, get 2 free
1300 Pitt Str
eet,
1300 Pitt Str eet, Cor nwall www .splashngocor nwall.com
1300 Pitt Str
eet,
Cor
nwall
nwall
Cor
1300 Pitt Street, Cornwall • www.splashngocornwall.com
Let it Grow – What’s the Buzz?
There are three kinds of bees in a losses are pests, poisons, and habitat
By Marion Dalley
hive: a queen, the workers, and the loss. The pests are insects such as
drones. Each have their own, very mites, small hive beetles, and wax
n general, I believe that most of specific, chores to preform. There is moths. These attack the hive from
Ius know that bees are the master only one queen (of course), and her within. Pesticides and herbicides
pollinators of the world. However, job is to lay eggs; specifically, about are lethal to bees and hives. When
there are so many interesting facts 1,500 eggs per day. The workers are they don’t kill the bee outright, they
about bees that, perhaps, are not as all female, and have many tasks, both can weaken the bees physically, and
commonly known. In this article, I inside and outside the hive, although impair cognitive function, which
have tried to pull together both some they work only inside (house bee), or weakens the colony, and makes them
obvious, and some lesser known, outside, (field bee). The house bee more vulnerable to other threats. And
facts about our little yellow and cleans, feeds the baby bees and the habitat loss speaks for itself; humans
black friends. queen, they pack pollen and nectar Photo Submitted destroy thousands upon thousands of
into the cells, then cap the cells, they When a bee finds a promising food acres of natural habitat for building
The bee is an insect, closely
related to the ant. There are over build and repair honeycombs, they source, she returns to the hive purposes.
fan to cool the hive, and they guard and communicates the location,
4000 species of native bees in North the hive. Phew! Field bees gather Some quick fun facts.
America, and it is the only insect that direction, and the size of the food
nectar and pollen from flowers, source through this specialized The patron saint of beekeepers is
produces food that humans can eat. collect water, and a sticky substance Saint Valentine, who is also the saint
That food is honey, and it takes the called propolis. And, if a worker bee dance. Pheromones are released of love. Honey comes in different
nectar of about four million flower when a bee is swatted at, calling for
has to use its stinger, it will die. The more bees to come for protection. colours and flavours, dependent on
visits to make one kilogram of honey. drones are male, and their only job where the nectar is gathered from.
The great thing about honey is that Don’t swat at bees!
is to find a queen to mate with. They Fermented honey, known as mead,
is never spoils. Honey has natural have special drone congregation A honeybee can fly at the speed of is the oldest known documented
preservatives, and bacteria cannot areas where they hope to find a queen 24 kph. It beats it wings 200 times per alcoholic beverage. Honeybee
grow in it. second, or 12,000 times per minute.
to mate. Drones do not have stingers. eyes are textured with the same
Nectar is the sweet watery Bees have straw-like tongues so they hexagonal pattern as honeycomb.
substance that bees gather. After they The bees use their honeycomb can suck up liquids, and they also Honeybees are so obsessed with
cells to raise the babies in, to store have mandibles so they can chew.
process the nectar in one of their two nectar, honey, pollen, and water. cleanliness that most will leave the
stomachs, (the other stomach is for They have a pollen basket on their hive when they know it’s time to die,
their own food), they regurgitate Bees can smell hundreds of hind legs to carry the pollen, which and they only live for about five to
the nectar into the honeycomb cells. floral varieties and identify pollen is a source of protein and needed to six weeks. Honeybees like caffeine!
Then other bees fan it with their from kilometres away. Their scent feed the babies to help them grow. Studies have shown that caffeine
wings to remove excess moisture. detector is fifty times more powerful One hive can have as many as 50,000 consumption actually improves
The result of all this effort is honey! than a dogs. They can better identify bees. They have two pairs of wings, honeybees’ memory and learning
A hive will fly the equivalent of native food sources, hence one of the and the wings have tiny teeth so that capabilities.
90,000 kms in order to produce one reasons we are always advocating they can lock together when the bee Who knew that an insect could
kilogram of honey. A typical healthy to plant native. Bees communicate is flying. be so complicated, and beneficial.
hive in Canada produces between 25 through scents called pheromones, There is loss to the worlds’ beehives Thanks for reading, happy plotting.
and 35 kgs of honey. and through special bee dances. every year. Common reasons for Enjoy the summer.