Why does smoke make bees calm? — Kovas, 10, Washington state
melissamayerDear Kovas,
When I work honey bee hives, I always wear a beekeeping veil. It protects my head and face from bee stings.
That’s important because a honey bee colony is a superorganism. It’s made of thousands of individuals. They work together like one living thing.
If that superorganism feels threatened, I might get stung—a lot.
I talked about it with my friend Brandon Hopkins. He’s a honey bee scientist at Washington State University.
He told me that smoke interferes with the way honey bees communicate with each other.
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