Honeybee

About the Honeybee

Essential for global food security - they pollinate 75% of leading global food crops, contributing $235-577 billion annually to global agriculture. A single colony contains 60,000-80,000 bees. They communicate food locations through waggle dances that encode direction and distance relative to the sun. Their hives maintain a constant temperature of 35 degrees C through collective ventilation. Colony Collapse Disorder has caused losses of 30-40% of hives annually since 2006. They produce 1.6 million tonnes of honey per year.