General Bee Fact Sheets
Honey bees are, perhaps, the insects with the best public image. We see them as industrious (“busy as a bee”) and we appreciate their main product, honey, as setting the standard for all that is ecstatically wonderful and sweet.
Honey bees are kept by many persons as a hobby or as a sideline. Apiculture, which is the keeping of bees and a study of their life and habits, holds a fascination for people in all walks of life – both young and old.
The Africanized bee is a “wild” bee that is not comfortable being around people or animals. Any colony of European or Africanized bees will defend its hive, but Africanized bees do so with gusto. These bees are more likely to sense a threat at greater distances, become more upset with less reason, and sting in much greater numbers.
This fact sheet covers some of the major biological features that beekeepers need to understand.
