But the conduct and teamwork of hive bees is amazing. Honeybees fly up to four miles to obtain forage/food. Given bees' smallness in relation to humans, that might be like a human walking 500 miles for a meal. Of course, some humans drive cars absurdly long distances for a restaurant dinner. Many who do feel compelled to describe the meal as "amazing."

Bees that fly miles for food are understandably fatigued when they return to their hives. Therefore, they inform their hive mates where the good food is by flying up and down, around in a circle, forward and backward and to the left and right, using the sun as a navigational reference point. Duly notified, the signaled bees set out for their target. While bees are motivated by their search for nectar, all of this sophisticated bee activity benefits people. Bees pollinate 70% of human food plant species.

When I managed community gardens in New Brunswick, New Jersey, we kept bee hives. There and elsewhere, boxes holding various hives were placed near each other. Each bee belonged to a specific stack of boxes. If a bee born in an adjacent hive tried to enter a hive where it doesn't belong, a bouncer bee sensed this unwelcome presence and bumped the invader away from the entrance. Given that there are over 10,000 honeybees in one hive and they all seem to look alike, such a security system is also amazing.

Honey making is a volume business. While a hive can yield 50 pounds of honey annually, the average bee produces only one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey during its six-week life. Each hive's honey has a distinctive scent and flavor based on the types of forage its bees eat. Hence, honey can taste like clover, buckwheat, blueberries or other flowering plants.

Bees did fine before humans built hives. Man-made hives seem mostly a way for humans to exploit bee labor. I painted a smiling "Winnie the Pooh" on one of the boxes eating from a jar of honey. I put a speech bubble above him saying, "I work for DISNEY (they own the rights to Pooh) and I'm here to STEAL all your HONEY!"