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