Tag - royal jelly

feeding bees

Pollen patties need a warning: Use with caution!

November 12, 2013

81 Comments

Bees and their queen on a honeycomb. Pixabay

guest posts • hive products • royal jelly

A royal jelly factory in New Zealand

June 7, 2012

15 Comments

honey bee myths • royal jelly

Monday morning myth: royal jelly is good for you

November 15, 2010

14 Comments

bee biology

Honey bee eggs in the brood nest

April 24, 2010

25 Comments

Pollen collection is just as important as nectar collection in any bee colony.

bee biology • honey bee behavior

Massive pollen collection is vital for raising strong...

March 2, 2010

80 Comments

Regardless of dictionaries, we have in entomology a rule for insect common names that can be followed. It says: If the insect is what the name implies, write the two words separately; otherwise run them together. Thus we have such names as house fly, blow fly, and robber fly contrasted with dragonfly, caddicefly, and butterfly, because the latter are not flies, just as an aphislion is not a lion and a silverfish is not a fish. The honey bee is an insect and is preeminently a bee; “honeybee” is equivalent to “Johnsmith.”

—From Anatomy of the Honey Bee by Robert E. Snodgrass

The non-native European Honey Bee is the state insect of:

Arkansas
Georgia
Kansas
Louisiana
Maine
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska
New Jersey
North Carolina
Oklahoma
South Dakota
Tennessee
Utah
Vermont
West Virginia
Wisconsin

Not one native bee is a state insect. The closest relative of a North American native bee to make the list is the Tarantula Hawk Wasp, the state insect of New Mexico.

Minnesota now has a state bee as well as a state insect. Bombus affinis, the Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee, has been so honored. Good work, Minnesota!

Connecticut’s state insect is the European “praying” mantis. Although they are beneficial insects, they are not native to North America.