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Ellis Abel Learns.

In my own words

Why I love bees

A honeybee queen marked with a yellow dot on her back, surrounded by worker bees on the honeycomb. Real USGS photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Bees" page.
A honeybee queen marked with a yellow dot on her back, surrounded by worker bees on the honeycomb. Marisa Lubeck, USGS · Public domain
  • They dance to tell each other where to go.
  • Without them a lot of our food stops.
  • The whole hive acts like one animal.

What it really is

Bees pollinate plants and communicate the location of food by dancing.

Three things to try today

  1. Watch a bee for two minutes without touching it.
  2. Count how many flowers it visits.
  3. Find out what a waggle dance means.
A USGS researcher pinches the top of a white net bag to trap a bumble bee caught during a pollinator survey in North Dakota grassland. Real USGS photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Bees" page.
A USGS researcher pinches the top of a white net bag to trap a bumble bee caught during a pollinator survey in North Dakota grassland. Mike Simanonok, USGS · Public domain

For the grown-up reading this

The waggle dance encodes distance and direction. It is symbolic communication in an insect.

Why I love bees — 4,299 places across America

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D.C. (1)
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Maine (21)
Maryland (35)
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Oregon (51)
Pennsylvania (88)
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Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (5)
South Carolina (65)
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Tennessee (114)
Texas (340)
Utah (48)
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Virginia (158)
Washington (77)
Washington, D.C. (1)
West Virginia (64)
Wisconsin (95)
Wyoming (25)

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