Bees turn nectar into honey in five stages: a forager carries it in her crop, house bees add enzymes and dry it, and the colony fans it to about 17 to 18% water and caps it with wax. This guide names who does each job and says where each number comes from.
Honey bees are not endangered: they are managed livestock, and US colony numbers rose in 2026. Nine US native bees are federally endangered, though, and many more are declining. Here is the full list, the causes and what helps.
Wasps are pollinators: adults carry pollen between flowers while they drink nectar. This guide compares them with bees, explains a 2024 study that surprised researchers, and lists the plants that depend on wasps.
Bee flies are fuzzy true flies that cannot sting or bite; only their larvae harm other insects, mainly solitary bees. How to tell one from a bee or hover fly, and the US species to know.
Yes, bees are insects in the order Hymenoptera. They are not true bugs, flies or spiders, and this page shows how to tell the difference.
How much honey goes in baklava syrup, which honey to choose, when to add it and whether the syrup goes on hot or cool, compared across nine published recipes, with a standard method.
How to tell the common types of bees apart in the United States: honey, bumble, carpenter, sweat, mason, leafcutter, mining, squash and cuckoo bees, with sizes, nesting habits, stings and photos.
A city-by-city guide to urban beekeeping laws in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, Portland, San Diego, Austin, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C., with hive limits, setbacks, permits and state registration rules taken from each official code.
A silent hive is not always dead. Bodies and droppings on the snow are good news, silence at several spots is a warning, and a lid-up look on a mild day settles it. Then seal the hive and find out why it died.