Honeybees are essential in the growth of fruits, vegetables, and flowers.  With their pollination, they assist in helping the plants grow fruit and seeds, allowing the reproductions of these existing plants to continue.  Honeybees are divided into three different types; queen, workers, and drones.  Each of these types of bees has specific responsibilities within the hive.  

 

The queen is the leader of the hive.  The queen is responsible for laying eggs and creating another generation for the colony.  As the leader, the queen bee also creates certain chemicals to guide the following bees and their behaviors. A queen bee’s life expectancy is up to five years, and she can lay thousands and thousands of eggs during that time. 

 

Worker bees, all female, are the bees that are most likely to be seen flying outside, they are the protectors of the hive.  These bees’ job is to collect pollen and nectar from flowers outside of the hive.  They also build and maintain the colony by cleaning and circulating the air with the flap of their wings within the hive, but only live for about five weeks.

 

Drones are all male.  These bee’s main priority is to mate with the new queen. They are usually only present in the hive during the spring and summer and are kicked out of the colony during the winter.

 

Honeybees produce honey to eat during the winter for survival, but the hive usually provides twice as much needed, allowing humans to enjoy their honey as well.