The honey bee is originally a forest insect that used to live freely in our forests. Today, honeybees are mostly in human care and are therefore often referred to as "mankind's smallest domestic animal".

A honey bee colony functions like a single large organism. One honey bee alone would not be able to survive. The queen is responsible for laying the eggs, while up to 45,000 workers take over all the other activities. This includes building the honeycombs, feeding the larvae, cleaning and guarding the hive, collecting pollen and nectar and producing and storing honey. Honey bees use honey as food for the winter. Male bees, known as drones, develop from unfertilized eggs. They are only accepted in the hive during the mating season.

Do you know of the wild relatives of the honey bee, wild bees? There are about 565 species in Germany. Most species of wild bees do not live in colonies, but alone. They occur wherever they can find sufficient food, nesting sites and building material for their nests. For example, they need cavities in the ground or in plant stems; but they also use boreholes, wall joints and insect nests. Wild bees do not need honey. The offspring of many wild bee types hibernate in their brood cell in a cocoon.

Wild bees play an important role in agriculture and nature because they pollinate wild herbs, shrubs and trees. In turn the seeds and fruits provide food for many other animal species. Their importance for pollination is even greater than that of honeybees.

Most wild bee species have only a very small or gentle sting that cannot pierce human skin. Only social species like bumble bees can be more defensive when protecting their nests.