Bee Facts & Trivia: Fascinating Things to Know

A bee is an insect built with six legs and, oddly, five eyes — two large compound eyes for detailed vision, plus three simple ocelli that mostly just sense light. Scientists have cataloged roughly 20,000 bee species around the globe, and a typical colony holds three castes: one queen, a swarm of female workers, and a handful of male drones.

Both queens and workers are female, though only the queen lays eggs, and only females carry a stinger at all, since drones have none. In a few species, using that stinger is fatal to the bee itself.

Their color vision has a gap: bees pick out nearly every color humans see except red. Their two pairs of wings are fitted with tiny hooks that clip together mid-flight, so all four beat as one unit. A foraging bee can range up to 8.5 miles from its hive, and a healthy colony, anywhere from 30,000 to 60,000 members strong, produces more than 100 pounds of surplus honey beyond what it needs to survive.

Bees have been part of human history for a long time. Fossil evidence points to their origin around 150 million years ago, and jars of honey sealed inside Egyptian tombs have turned up still safe to eat thousands of years later.

Researchers have also studied propolis, the resin-like substance bees use to seal gaps in their hives, for its natural antibacterial qualities.

• A bee is an insect with six legs and five eyes (two compound, three simple ocelli).
• Around 20,000 species of bees exist worldwide.
• A hive holds three castes — one queen, many female workers, and male drones — but only the queen reproduces.
• Only females sting, and a few species die immediately after doing so.
• Bees can't perceive red but see most other colors just fine.
• Two pairs of wings interlock with tiny hooks for smoother flight.
• One hive can produce over 100 pounds (about 45 kg) of extra honey beyond its own needs.
• It takes roughly nine bees to match the weight of a single plain M&M candy.
• Bees are believed to have first appeared around 150 million years ago.
• A colony can range from 30,000 up to 60,000 bees.
• Foraging bees can travel as far as 8.5 miles from their hive.
• Honey sealed in ancient Egyptian tombs has been found still edible after millennia.
• Propolis, the resin bees use to patch their hives, has documented antibacterial properties.
• Bees fall under the clade Anthophila, within the superfamily Apoidea, in the animal kingdom.

Bees have buzzed through pop culture for decades. On screen they've ranged from the animated comedy Bee Movie (2007) to darker fare like The Swarm (1978), The Deadly Bees (1967), Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973), Killer Bees (2002), and Deadly Invasion (1995), alongside documentaries such as Vanishing of the Bees (2009) and Queen of the Sun (2010) that dig into real colony decline.

In music, bees turn up in titles from artists across genres — Air's "Be a Bee," Pearl Jam's "Bee Girl," Relient K's "Bee Your Man," Blake Shelton's "Honey Bee," Lee Ann Womack's "The Bees," Jewel Akens' "The Birds and the Bees," and Motion City Soundtrack's "Worker Bee." Even breakfast cereal joined the buzz: Honey Nut Cheerios rolled out its Buzzy Bee mascot back in 1979, Kellogg's Honey Loops answered with a bee named Loopy in 1998, and the classic kids' show Romper Room used two characters, Do Bee and Don't Bee, to model good and bad behavior for its young viewers.

A few bees have earned fame of their own, beyond the hive. Bee Movie gave the world two named leads, Barry B. Benson and Adam Flayman. Bumble Bee has appeared on tuna cans for years, and a bee named Buzz shows up on cereal boxes.

Disney has had more than one bee character, including Buzz Buzz the Bee in classic animated shorts and Scoopy Bee. Hutch the Honeybee starred in his own feature film. New Zealand has long claimed Buzzy Bee as a beloved national symbol, and the Mario video games feature an enemy called Queen Bee. The Sonic the Hedgehog games have a bee character named Charmy, Maya the Bee has appeared across comic books and cartoons, and Saturday Night Live built recurring sketches around a group called The Killer Bees.