As a beekeeper, I average 4-7 stings a year. My goal is always zero.

Where? Oh ya know, I’ve been stung in the butt twice (LOL), on my thigh, my ankle, my palm, and once on my neck.

When? Each time I was stung, it was because 1) I spent a long time pulling their hive apart during a routine inspection and they were definitely annoyed, 2) a bee got trapped in my pants cuffs during an inspection, 3) a bee got trapped in the fold of my leg as I squatted down during an inspection, 4) I wasn’t wearing protective gear but was trying to do something to the hive while the guard bees were home and feeling threatened. See a trend?

Why? I have only ever been stung because I moved too quickly, or I simply threatened the needs and harmony of the bees.

Many keepers are backyard hobbyists and aren’t interested in making money. However, some keepers earn money in a variety of ways. They may sell honey, honeycomb, beeswax and related products. Some keepers offer beekeeping services such as hive rescue and relocation. Some keepers earn money by selling queen bees, bee colonies, or specialty beekeeping equipment. to other beekeepers.

Like most animals, bees need to drink water. In addition to seeking water for themselves, some foraging bees are tasked with bringing water back to the other bees living inside the beehive. It’s their job! They do this by carrying water inside a special organ called a crop. The water helps the bees inside the hive get a drink but also cool the temperature inside the hive during hot days - the same days you might be interested in a swim!

In addition to needing water, they also need minerals, specifically salts. Pool water can leach salt and other minerals from cement which is typically part of the landscape around pools. And it contains chlorine, which bees also find attractive.

So, bees do not fly near swimmers to attack or hurt them, but likely see people, their towels and water toys, as suitable landing spots from which to access pool water safely. Bees don’t swim and will drown in very shallow water without a landing spot near the water’s edge or a safe object floating above the water.

Next time you are visited by a bee near the pool, simple watch her go about her business. Even if she lands on you, she will not sting you unless she is threatened. Enjoy the momentary visits with bees by the pool and wish them well on their journey.

Quite the opposite. A hive is generally a queen and thousands of her daughters along with a couple hundred of her sons. The ratio of female to male bees changes dramatically if the hive loses its queen (the number of male bees may increase) or if the season requires the colony to eat their stores of honey because they can’t go outside (the number of male bees will decrease substantially).

The short answer?

Drone bees (male) live for about eight weeks, unless they mate in which case they will die hours after mating.

Worker bees (female) tend to live for up to six weeks during summer and five months or more during winter.

The fertile queen bee can live between 3-5 years, and even as long as 7 years in rare cases.

So many factors plan into the actual lifespan of an individual bee, just as is the case with people. Illness, adversity and accidents can all shorten the lifespan of a bee.

Her beginnings: During the larval stage of life, queens are fed exclusively on a high protein diet of royal jelly, and eventually honey. Royal jelly is provided to all bees initially, but only the queen larva will continue to be fed this special food by the nurse bees tending to her.

Her role: The queen’s primary job is to keep the population of a colony growing. She mates shortly after pupating and leaving her cell. When she returns to her hive, she begins a lifetime of living in the warm dark hive. Every day, she lays between 1,000 - 1,500 eggs.

Her lifespan: The honeybee queen has the longest lifespan of all the bees in the colony. The average is between two and five years. Some have recorded queens living up to seven years, but this is rare.

Her body: A queen bee is physiologically different from all the other bees in the hive. Having been fed on Royal Jelly, she has a special organ in her abdomen that she uses to store the sperm from the 15-20 drone (male) bees she mated with during her first/only mating flight at the beginning of her life. She ensures the diversity of the species by laying eggs that mix her DNA with that of several other bees. She chooses to lay unfertilized eggs (males) or fertilized eggs (females) based on the size of the honeycomb cells that worker bees have created to guide her. Her abdomen is much longer than other female bees and her wings are slightly smaller, although she can fly.