Are all bees honey bees?

Honeybees live in large "families" and are found all over the world. The honeybee is the only social insect whose colony can survive many years. That is because they huddle together and eat honey to keep themselves alive during the winter months. read more

Bees live in colonies that contain the queen bee, the worker bee and the drone. The worker bee and the queen bee are both female, but only the queen bee can reproduce. All drones are male. Worker bees clean the hive, collecting pollen and nectar to feed the colony and they take care of the offspring. The drone’s only job is to mate with the queen. read more

Most bees are not honey bees, there are only seven known species of honey bees, out of about 20,000 known bee species. There are bees other than honeybees that are social, pollinate and make honey, but most bee species are solitary (though many solitary bees play an important role in pollination). read more

A colony of honey bees has between 20,000 to 60,000 worker bees. The worker bees are all female and will live for about six weeks in the summer and up to four months in the winter. They never sleep and pretty much work themselves to death. read more