honeybee

a kind of insect – belongs to bees; only 7 species (kinds) out of 20,000 known species of bees collect nectar and pollen from the flowers.

honeybee making honey comb

honey comb

These bees build ‘honey combs’ out of wax-like fluid secreted from some glands under their abdomen, and keep their larvae and the nectar in the hexagonal cells in their honey combs.  The honey bees store this nectar for their larvae to feed on, and for them to survive the winter or rainy seasons.

This nectar that people and some other animals rob from the bees and eat is called ‘honey’, and the bees that make this honey are called ‘honey bees’.

male ~~ drone

female ~~ queen

baby ~~ larvae

group ~~ swarm

voice (call) ~~ buzz (but not vocal, made by the wings when the bee flies)

home ~~ beehive (man-made), nest (natural, by honeybee), (honey comb)

The honey bees’ honey is very sweet; and, health-wise, is far better than the artificial sugars made in factories by people.

apairy

The activity of keeping honey bees to produce honey is called ‘apiary’.  It is a very profitable medium-scale business.

The man-made nests are called ‘beehives’.  In the wild, the honey bees make their ‘nests’ in the hollows or on the branches of trees, rocks or on the ceilings of caves, and these days, under the projections of man-made buildings or structures.

natural nest (beehive)

[1. Honey bees do not produce honey from their bodies; they make honey.  They produce only the wax to build their nests.  2. There are other insects, such as wasps, bumblebees, etc. that also make honey, but that honey is not preferred by us.]

Figures of Speech:

as sweet as a honeybee  =  very sweet

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