As many as 80,000 honeybees...
Illustration
As many as 80,000 honeybees can live in a single colony, which they need in order to survive individually. They do not all have the same function. The distinctions are important and the survival of the colony depends upon each performing a particular task. The queen bee is at the heart of the colony. She is the only reproductive female and can lay up to 1,500 eggs per day. As important as she is, she lacks the tools of the worker bees. These tools include pollen baskets, glands for secreting beeswax, and well-developed honey sacs. The worker bees have these tools and they are responsible for building the nest, cleaning the comb, gathering food, and feeding the queen, larvae, and the drones. The drones are the third kind of bee in the colony. They are defenseless males, whose only purpose is to mate with the queen bee.
-- Molldrem
-- Molldrem
