SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — Georgia’s state insect, the honeybee, is known for producing delicious honey.
Acknowledged as the Georgia state insect in 1975, as of 2022, there were a recorded 118,000 colonies across the state.
Worker honeybees are all female and range from 12 to 15 mm; queens can range from 18 to 22 mm. Male honeybees, also known as drones, are 15 to 17 mm.
Honeybees are very common in Georgia, with worker bees living 15-38 days in the summer and 150-200 days in the winter.
Queens can live up to two years while laying 2,000 eggs per day.
Honeybees play a pivotal role in our ecosystem, pollinating to help plants such as flowers and crops reproduce.
These bees are busy, as they pollinate an average of 5,000 flowers per day. If every bee in a colony is pollinating, they can pollinate 250-300 million flowers a day.
Honeybees contribute an annual value of $360 million to Georgia’s economy by pollinating crops, according to a University of Georgia study.
While over 500,000 people are stung by bees in the United States a year, components of bee venom have been shown to inhibit the growth of several human cancer cells.
As honeybees keep our way of life stable, theirs is under threat as yellow-legged hornets gain a foothold in the state.
These hornets are vegans but they hunt honeybees to feed their young who need protein.
These bees are essential to our way of life. Next time you see a busy bee, move out of the way because they are hard at work!
