FUN FACT FRIDAY : CREATING A BUZZ ABOUT THE DRONE

1. Honeybees live in hives. There are three different types of bees in a beehive. I’ve talked about the Queen Bee - see Fun Fact Friday March 20th. I’ve told you about the worker bees, both in the hive - see Fun Fact Friday April 4th - and outside of the hive - see Fun Fact Friday April 10th.

Today is all about The Drones.

The Drone

• The drones are the male bees.

• In a hive of 50,000 bees there will only be about 400 drones.

• They live for up to 7 weeks.

• They are larger than the worker bee and cannot sting.

• The Drones are born to mate with the queen. Those that do - die - and those that don’t stay in the hive.

• They do not do any work in the hive at all.

• The adult drones rely on the nurse bees to feed them.

• In the Autumn the drones die off or are ejected by the worker bees to make sure there is enough food for the queen and the workers to get through the winter months.

• They do not re-appear in the hive until the next spring.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO WIN A SIGNED COPY OF ‘BETSIE VALENTINE AND THE HONEYBEES’ ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION:

Does a Drone sting?

Simply go the contact page on this website and send in your send in your answer. There is no age limit! If you already have a book, then enter anyway and you can give your prize as a gift to someone else.

GOOD LUCK!