🐝 When is National Honey Bee Day 2024

As a rule, contemporary people are not interested in insects, finding them irritating or sometimes even really dangerous. But it is not for a good reason, of course. Some representatives of this class can be rather fascinating and amazing. For example, modern and rather experienced paleontologists argue that the honey bees appeared about 40 million years ago. Have you ever heard about it? Or perhaps you can answer the question “When is National Honey Bee Day in 2024?” immediately and without any serious thinking? Unfortunately, “no” is the most common reply to these both questions.

That is why we have decided to discover this matter in details.

History

Of course, it is almost impossible to get the answer to the question what day National Honey Bee Day in 2024 is not taking into account the historical background of this event.

Nowadays it has been already estimated that, for example, Americans consume about 130 million kg of honey every year. In addition, the US Department of Agriculture believes that bees pollinate 80 percent of crops, which brings more than $ 20 billion a year in the US alone.

But how did the first hives look like?

It happened a long time ago, exactly in 1970. In the village of Vary near Athens on Mount Hymettus in the ruins of a rural house belonging to III-IV century, English archaeologists found a large number of strange clay skulls.

Archaeologists have identified two forms of items. The first one was represented by a wide pot with a convex upper edge, conical walls and an almost flat bottom. The diameter of the pot was slightly larger than 30 cm, and its height was 60-90 cm. Some of the inner pot surfaces had raw clay incisions. The second thing differed from the first one. – That was a wide hoop or ring, created from baked clay. Its diameter was also close to 30 cm, and its height was not no more than 10-15 cm. There was an assumption that the found construction was nothing more but an ancient hive. But unfortunately it has remained an attractive, but not a proven hypothesis up to the present moment.

Clay hives were widely used in Cyprus. But they were more like pipes, not pots. They had no any hoop-baits. But the inhabitants of Malta, who also used clay hives, needed the special attachments.

Ancient Greek beekeepers fixed clay constructions to thick walls in a horizontal position. The shards of hives with parallel incisions were found in many regions of the contemporary country, in particular during excavations of the mountain in the square of Athens. Was there an apiary in the center of the ancient city? Who knows.

Meaning

What does National Honey Bee Day mean? In most cases every person finds the own answer to this question. But as a rule, it is an additional chance to find out a great amount of various amazing information about the living beings, which we use to see every warm season.

In the very beginning we would like to mention that one bee family can consist of 80 000 to 120 000 individuals. Relationships in the beehive are something like the standard of a large amicable collective, headed by a bee-queen, and the rules of which are unquestioningly obeyed by all other members. In the bee family, only females work. Male individuals do nothing for the general benefit. The uterus and “worker-bees” take care of the preservation and healthy functioning of the family.

Unfortunately, the lifespan of these insects depends on the time of their appearance. The bees, which are born in the spring and summer, have to do a great amount of work. They build honeycombs, gather nectar and pollen and protect the hives.  As a result these honey bees quickly spend their resources and therefore their life time is much less than that of the autumn creatures, which do not spend their energy on summer work. The average life expectancy of a worker’s living beings is raised in the autumn period and ranges from 190 to 210 days, while in simmer it is only 30 – 60 days. However, the life expectancy of the uterus is from 4 to 5 years.

Definition

The bees are believed to be hard workers. That is a common know fact. But what do we also know about them? Nowadays some experienced scientists consider these insects smart creatures, but is it really so? Let’s discover and the obtained information will help us to answer the set question “When is International Honey Bee Day 2024?” substantially.

Not everybody knows that these creatures can be considered excellent mathematicians, engineers and architects. You see, the honeycombs that are built by them are usually ideal and represented in the most rational natural geometric forms in the world. The structures have a large margin of strength and capacity, as well as precise dimensions with identical cell angles. It is also interesting that the minimum amount of building material is spent on their construction. It is even difficult to believe but a little more than one gram of wax is required for the creation of 100 cells.

Usually bees have many enemies and “spongers”. That is why the entrance to the hive is safely protected by the guards, which are always ready to attack.

It is rather interesting to find out that no bee can penetrate into another’s hive, as each construction is characterized by a special smell, not felt by human beings. Each bee stores this odor in a special body place. Approaching the entrance, the bee opens it and smells. The guards take this aroma as a business card and let them in.

Traditions

When is Honey Bee Day in 2024, calendar will help you not to forget. But unfortunately many contemporary people don’t know how to celebrate August 19 properly.

First of all it is recommended to visit local museum or specialized exhibition. There you will be able to find out some very interesting or even amazing facts concerning the life of these insects.

For example, have you ever heard that bees are the creatures with five eyes? Three of them are set on the head top, and two are complex, arranged at the edges and have a form of two large ovals. Most researchers believe that with the help of ordinary eyes, bees are able to see objects located nearby. But during the flights they are guided by complex ones. When removing vision organs, insects make an impression of completely blind creatures.

Some people are really surprised when they discover that bees are able to perceive and distinguish smells and do it better compared with a human being, in 1000 times sharper. Certainly, these insects prefer smells of subtle floral scents. The honeybee is able to smell honey from a distance of more than a kilometer. On the other turn they do not like sharp steady odors, such as a strong smell of animals – horses, dogs and goats. By the way, when one bee stings, hundreds others will rush into battle.

Celebrating this day you can watch the documentaries or read specialized editions about these insects.

Honey Bee Day Facts

So you have already got the answer to the question “What is the date of National Honey Bee Day 2024?” It will be on August 15. But would you like to know something interesting about these earth inhabitants?

Here is our list:

• Scientists have determined that honeybees have internal biological clocks and a compass. They fly to the flowers, when the production of nectar is at its peak. These creatures are able to accurately find the honey plants and return to the hive at a distance of up to 10 kilometers.
• The bees can’t be knocked out of their route. They always find their way home. This was proved experimentally by marking the bees and moving them far from their flight path, the researchers watched as they orientated and returned back.
• Their wings move with a frequency of 300 times per second when it flies with honey, and 440 when it flies without any load. During the collection of nectar, the bee can travel long distances to reach speeds of up to 65 kilometers per hour and at the same time move the load several times the weight of its own body.

To collect one kilogram of honey, one representative will need to make more than 60 thousand flights. Returning home with nectar, the bee eats it. Therefore, if it has to travel a long distance, only 30-40% of the extracted nectar reaches the hive.