Our Services Explore Bees & Beekeeping Do Honeybees sleep? Yes they do sleep and we know this because of the efforts of a researcher called Walter Kaiser who in 1983 observed bees in his hive stop moving and made a new discovery: that honeybees slept. As he watched, Kaiser noted how a bee's legs would first start to flex, bringing its head to the floor. Its antennae would stop moving. In some cases, a bee would fall over sideways, as if intoxicated by tiredness. Many bees held each other's legs as they slept. Fascinating facts It was the first record of sleep in any invertebrate. Honeybees sleep between 5 & 8 hours a day. More rest at night when darkness prevents them going out to collect pollen & nectar. Some solitary bees have been photographed sleeping in flowers The charitable object of the British Beekeepers' Association is: 'to advance the education of the public and beekeepers in the craft of beekeeping and promote the importance of bees in the evironment.' We welcome a donation to one of our current appeals: Save the Bees or Apiary and Education Manage Cookie Preferences