Question 2 of 21

According to Egyptian mythology, bees developed from the tears of what god?

... The sun-god Ra is said to have shed tears that turned into bees.

Question 3 of 21

When did Jam Swammerdam discover that queens bees have sex organs?

... Until the 1660s, when Jan Swammerdam discovered female sex organs on queen bees, people thought that bees spontaneously generate.

Question 4 of 21

Scientists believe that bees evolved approximately how long ago?

... Based on fossils, scientists believe that bees evolved during the Cretaceous period -- 100 million years ago.

Question 5 of 21

Honeybees were first brought to America in which century?

... The honeybee is not indigenous to North America. Honeybees were imported to the Americas from Spain in the 16th century.

Question 6 of 21

Based on their diet, bees are categorized as what?

... Bees are herbivores; their diet consists of pollen, nectar, and honey. This distinguishes them from wasps, which primarily consume other insects.

Question 7 of 21

Hymenoptera is the insect order made up of wasps, bees, and what other insect?

... The order Hymenoptera, which mean "membranous wings," is made up of bees, wasps, and ants.

Question 8 of 21

The exoskeleton of a bee is made of what material?

... Bees, like wasps, have an exoskeleton made of a glucose-based polymer known as chitin.

Question 9 of 21

What is the middle section of a bee's body called?

... Insects, including bees, have three main body sections: head, thorax, and abdomen.

Question 10 of 21

Approximately how many neurons are there in the brain of a bee?

... There are around a million neurons in the brain of a bee. Compare that to the billions found in the human brain, and you might be impressed by how much they manage to achieve with such a small brain.

Question 11 of 21

How many eyes do bees have?

... Bees have five eyes. Three of the eyes are simple eyes, while the other two are compound.

Question 12 of 21

How many sections are there in each compound eye of a bee?

... The compound eye of a bee each has about 150 sections, known as ommatidia.

Question 13 of 21

What is the name of the tube of a bee's mouth, which it uses to collect nectar?

... Bees have a long tube, known as a proboscis, which extend from their mouths. They use this tube to collect nectar.

Question 14 of 21

Approximately how many species of bee are there?

... Scientists have recorded over 20,000 species in the bee super-family known as Apodiea.

Question 15 of 21

What are beehives made of?

... Beehives are made of a wax that female bees produce. The wax is quite strong, and the hives bees build can last a very long time.

Question 16 of 21

For how long does a bumblebee hive last?

... Bumblebees rebuild their hives each year, unlike honeybees, which might use the same hive for many years.

Question 17 of 21

Why should infants never be allowed to consume honey?

... Honey contains botulism spores, and though the amount isn't enough to affect adults, in can be fatal to infants.

Question 18 of 21

How do bees navigate their way from the hive to flowers and back?

... Bees have a solar compass that allows them to remember where things are relative to the sun. They not only remember the location, but can communicate this location to other bees through a series of dance-like movements.

Question 19 of 21

What percentage of the food Americans eat comes directly from honeybee pollination?

... When you consider that 15 percent of the food Americans eat comes directly from honeybee pollination, you get some sense of the importance of this insect.

Question 20 of 21

Which famous scientist was said to have claimed that humans would die out soon after bees did?

... It has been claimed that Albert Einstein said humans are so dependent on bees for food, that humans would die out with four years of the extinction of bees. It's not at all clear whether Einstein actually said anything of the sort, but it is true that humans need bees to pollinate the foods we eat.

Question 21 of 21

What is the term used to describe the decline of the world's honeybee population?

... Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is a phenomenon is which colonies of bees seem to disappear, sometimes leaving behind just the queen and few young bees.