Heinrich states that about 20,000 species of bees exist in the world. They vary in size from two millimeters to insects as large as six centimeters. Bees can be divided into three main groups—social bees, solitary bees, and parasitic bees. (205)

Solitary, as their name says, are introverted and makeup the majority of bee population. Although they live alone sometimes they build their nests together in a small area resembling a hive. There are no worker bees among them so each female is like a queen and does her own work. (205) According to Winston the three main kinds of solitary bees are leafcutter, mining, and carpenter. The female leafcutter bee searches for a convenient, ready-made space in such places as a hollow stem, rotten wood, or the ground. There she shapes her nest in the form of a long tunnel. She constructs a cell, using circles she cuts from the leaves of shrubs such as roses or

Tropical stingless bees defend their colony by crawling into the eyes, ears, and nose of an animal or under the clothing of a human raider. They bite, and create unpleasant sensations because of their sheer numbers. Some species secrete a caustic chemical that burns the skin. (53-55)

Scout bees search for food for the hive. Winston discussed that when the scouts find food, they return to the hive and use a dance to tell the others of his find. This dance, known as the waggle dance, tells the bees where the food is in relation to the sun, the quantity of food, and the quality of the crop. If the food is located toward the sun the scout makes a series of rapid runs in a figure-8 pattern up the honeycomb while shaking it’s body 13-15 times per second. If the food is located thirty degrees to the right of the sun, the scout runs thirty degrees to the right of a line that splits the figure-8. The dance may also tell the distance. The faster the dance, the closer the food is to the hive. Scouts signal not the length distance but rather how much energy it will take to get there. Therefore, the distance communication is not always correct and all workers do not find the resources on their first trip. Studies show that when there is a headwind the scout will indicate a greater distance then what is really true. The age of the bee also comes into play. Younger bees have a faster dance tempo than older bees; therefore they indicate shorter distances. Along with signaling the presence of nectar and pollen, dances in the nest can indicate the location of water. Dances on the face of swarms signal the locations of possible nesting sites.

Most bees can sting many times, but a honeybee worker has a tiny, hook-shaped barb that is caught inside the victim. This bee cannot fly away without tearing out it out with some internal organs. After the dying bee has flown away, its poison sac and the muscles left attached to the ovipositor keep pumping poison into the victim. (33-34)

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