### Lots of people are scared of bees or even allergic if the get stung, so unfortunately a lot of them get killed, but bees are very important little insects.  

### They help to pollinate our flowers that turns into fruits and vegetables.  It is important that we protect the bees, since many of the species are on the endangered list.

- _**Read the facts on bees to yourself and make sure you watch the videos to gather extra information.**_

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaaQUGPXtnU&t=225s

[source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaaQUGPXtnU&t=225s)

Bees may look like they are all the same, but they belong to 9 different families and there are over 20 000 species (types) of bees.  The bumble bee and the 'killer bee' and the honey bee are the most common known bees that lives in hives.  The digger bee and mining bees are bees that live by themselves.

- _**Do research and find at least 5 types of bees, a picture of each and a few facts on each.**_

The honeybee live in colonies in the hives and there are certain structures in these hives.  Different levels and types of bees with their own work are found in these hives.  They are the drones, the workers and the queen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA05LOfPblY

[source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA05LOfPblY)

On the back of the worker bee's body is a very special gland that produces the wax it uses to build the hive.  They also go out and collect the nectar from the flowers, which they use to make honey with.

- _**What uses does honey have for us?**_

The bee has a special tongue to remove the nectar from the flower and on their legs they have 'pollen baskets' where the collect the pollen of one flower and carry it to another so that 'pollination' can take place.

Pollination is very important in order for plants to form seeds and new plants.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUPzbTuJlgc&t=234s

[source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUPzbTuJlgc&t=234s)

Worker bees are the females and truly work very hard and are very important.

The drones are males and their only job is to mate with the queen so that there will be new babies and the species will live on.  The drones will only live 40-50 days.

The queen also only have one job and that is to lay eggs.  She is fed and cleaned by the workers and they even carry away the eggs.  A queen can live from 2-5 years and can lay millions of eggs in her life time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esJXJS4G3FM

[source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esJXJS4G3FM)

The bumblebee do not have to store a huge amount of food for the winter, since it is mostly only the queen that survives the winter.

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