Honey Bee Research Paper

Bees

Bees are an essential part of almost all habitats and are the biggest pollinators of flowering plants throughout the world. Bees are found on every continent except for Antarctica. Some bees are native to an area, while humans have brought others to new areas. Every bee plays an important role in the ecosystem of the hive. Bees are vital to ecosystem function as the dominant pollinators of flowering plants in both natural and agricultural ecosystems. Many plants depend upon bees to spread pollen by collecting the grains of pollen in their hair or on their legs, then landing on another plant and spreading it to the new plant. Yellow, blue and purple flowers are very good at attracting bees. In some areas where there are many different flowering plants blooming at the same time, bees will pollinate an exclusive species in order to avoid conflict with bees from other species. There are more than 4,000 species of “native bees” in the United States. A native bee is able to survive in the wild, without help from humans. Native bees pollinate plants and are essential to food crops but they do not produce honey or make beeswax. The bees that make these items are honeybees.

Scientists have discovered that bees give directions to the new food source by using a technique called the “waggle dance”. There are two variations of this dance. One is called the round dance, the bee returns to the hive and dances in a circular motion, indicating that the food is close by. The other bees must then leave the nest and search in the vicinity of the hive to locate the food. The second variation of the dance is the traditional “waggle dance”. This time the bee moves in a figure eight pattern, pointing specifically in a direction and vibrating in order to indicate the direction and distance to the new food