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What's the difference between bees and wasps?

Honey Bee Apis melifera

Honeybees can see color, your dog can't -- how do we know? Karl Von Frisch figured out that bees could see color using different colored scraps of paper and sugar water. But, you say, how did he know they distinguished colors and not just shades of gray? Bees also see ultraviolet light (UV). Flowers have UV reflecting markings on them. Where do you think those markings would be and why would they be there? Can you see anything in a bee's behavior that helps you find the UV location.

We're not done yet ... Honey bees can also see polarized light and that allows them to find the position of the sun when there is only a small patch of blue sky and no shadows. Why would they need to be able to know the position of the sun?

Now for the really unbelievable. They also have a symbolic language and can give out important information to other bees and to us about where food is -- how? They dance and sing.

A hint for your note taking on bees. The bees you will see are all females. The males are around briefly at the time of mating. Males are also fatherless -- don't feel too bad, they have grandfathers. Males are also haploid; carrying half of the genes that their sisters and mother carry. Go figure. The bees you will see (unless you look in the hive and find the queen) are all helping their mother reproduce. These workers are said to be sterile (sacrificing their reproduction to help raise brothers and sisters). It is not really true that they are sterile, just unfertilized. They can, and do, produce eggs that develop into bees -- what kind of bees?

Hopefully we have caught your attention and you want to go watch bees. Great, hang around flowers (e.g., the UEL). Put out a small dish of sugar water (a lot of sugar) near some flowers and see if you get a taker. If you do, keep watching for a while longer and see if you end up with lots of bees at your dish. How did they get there?

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