Bees and ants: animal states

In short: Bees and ants live in states with strict division of labour. Queen, workers and drones or soldiers perform different tasks; the colony acts like a “superorganism”.

In more detail: Such a way of life is called “eusocial”.

In detail

• Honey bee: A colony has one queen, tens of thousands of workers and in summer a few hundred drones.
• Tasks: Workers clean, feed, build combs, guard and collect nectar.
• Bee dance: The waggle dance reveals direction and distance of a food source.
• Ants: Use scent substances (pheromones) to mark paths.
• Ant farming: Some keep aphids or cultivate fungi.
• Importance: Bees pollinate many crops (insekten-und-bestaeuber).
• Threats: Pesticides, diseases, lack of flowers.
• Helping: Flower meadows, wild bee hotels and native plants (biodiversitaet-und-artenvielfalt).