4 Facts About the Honeybee, the Official State Bug of New Jersey
The honeybee has been the official New Jersey State Bug since 1974 after a group of fifth-graders advocated for their importance!
Honeybees are valuable to our environment, but what do they actually do for us? What else is there to know about the honeybee?
If you want to boost your Jersey pride, you’ve come to the right place.
Read on to find out four awesome facts about honeybees!
1. The Honeybee Is a Top Pollinator
Most of our fruits, veggies, and flowers are cross-pollinators. That means that they rely on insects and other critters to transfer pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma. In other words, pollinators like honeybees are crucial to the reproductive system of our food and other plants that cleanse our air!
To put it in a different perspective, honeybees are responsible for $30 billion worth of crops per year worldwide. Without them, we’d have about half the crops we have now. That means that honeybees are responsible for feeding the world!
2. Some Honeybees Do Sting
Many people are afraid of bees and it is a logical response. Understand, however, that worker bees have barbed stingers and it will kill them to sting you. They tend only to sting if they feel provoked.
That being said, when a worker bee stings you, it releases a pheromone alerting other worker bees to your presence. That’s why it’s likely that if you’re stung once, you’ll get stung again.
If you notice a nest near your home, it’s advisable to call pest control rather than tackle it, yourself. Not only is there a chance that you’re dealing with a meaner pest than a honeybee but you may not know the proper method to extract the nest. A professional can handle the situation with minimal damage.
3. Drone Bees Don’t Sting
Honeybees have a matriarchal society! Everything revolves around the queen bee, and the worker bees are all female. Drone bees are the males of the population and they don’t have stingers at all.
Drone bees are what we lovingly refer to as “bumblebees.” They’re rounder and fuzzier than worker bees and you don’t see them as often as you see worker bees. They only come out during mating season because their primary function is to help make more bees!
4. Honeybees Are Endangered
While the exact reasons aren’t quite clear, honeybees are dropping in numbers. We can safely say that the change in our climate is contributing to this issue. However, honeybees are leaving their hives and disappearing in high numbers, and it is still a bit of a mystery to us.
For that reason, we try to be very careful with honeybees! Since they’re such a great help to us, it’s important to avoid killing them unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Handle Infestations the Right Way
If you’re in New Jersey and you need professional pest control services, we’re here to help. The honeybee is important and we want to ensure that she thrives, but we also don’t want to risk our own health and safety!
Contact us for pest control services today.
Our office is located in Randolph, New Jersey. We will be happy to help you with your pest removal and control services. We also provide wildlife removal, the humane way, so if you find you have an unwanted creature, such as a raccoon during the day, do not hesitate to call us.
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We serve the counties of Morris, Bergen, Passaic, Union, Essex, Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon and Somerset. Give us a call to see if we serve your town within the counties listed.
