Bees are invertebrate animals that grow through four different life stages - egg, larva, pupa, and adult - similar to the seemingly friendlier insects, the butterflies. However, unlike butterflies, which abandon their eggs once they are laid, bees provide their young a safe place to hatch and grow. All juvenile bees develop within the protected confines of an enclosed nest that is built by a female bee or by other females in the family.
In some social species, the bee babies, or larvae, are fed on demand by their sisters. In other bee species, the larvae are enclosed within a small chamber after food has been deposited inside it. While often confused with wasps, their more aggressive, meat-eating cousins, bees almost always collect and feed on nectar and pollen from plants. These food resources may be consumed directly, stored within the nest, or made into provisions for later generations.
Bees and wasps do share a common ancestry, as evidenced by their superficially similar bodies; insects in each group have a "wasp waist" - the narrow area between the thorax and the abdomen. Both types of insects have many hairs on their bodies, but the hairs on bees are fluffy or branched; the hairs on wasps are typically straight and somewhat shiny. Both also have two sets of wings that fold back on top of one another when not in use and hook together during flight, and many species have similar coloration on their bodies.
Bees and social wasps, like hornets and yellow jackets, evolved from a common, solitary wasp ancestor that was dependent on other insects as a protein source for its developing larvae. Bees now rely only on pollen as a source of protein for their young. Once bees metamorphose into adults, they do not grow, and adult bees only require fuel for movement and flight. Nectar, from the Latin "drink of the gods," is the bees' sugar-rich source of energy, so flowers provide everything the bees need. Other animals, like hummingbirds and many nectivorous bats, must supplement their nectar-drinking with protein from insects in order to sustain their own growth.
Bees are grouped within the insects in the order Hymenoptera, which includes the sawflies, wasps, and ants. Many of the members of this order have a sting that is used to defend the nest. Although bees and wasps are often mistaken for one another, these two types of insects are quite different. First, bees and wasps have different temperaments.
While bees are often characterized as aggressive, they are typically docile and harmless, using only their stings when provoked near the hive. Yellow jackets, on the other hand, can be quite aggressive, even when away from the nest. Moreover, it is wasps that are likely to invade your picnic, not bees. Indeed, bees are misunderstood, and their bad reputation is a result of being confused with their more aggressive cousins.
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Note: This article was sent to us by: Albert R. Nichels at 08152010
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