Question

Honey bee is regarded as a social insect because
A) Bees interact with each other
B) Make honey for humans to eat
C) They have a poisonous sting
D) None of the above

Answer 1

Hint:Social insects are insects that live in groups known as colonies or communities of the same species and are able to perform a variety of complex tasks like complex nest building and communication that insects which live alone would be unable to perform.

Complete answer:
The honey bee lives in a huge colony connected to a female known as the queen. Adult honey bees are workers, drones, or queens. Each colony has only one queen. They are able to perform various tasks as a functioning unit live looking after all the eggs laid by the queen and the developing larvae. Option A is the correct answer.

Honey bees make honey from nectar obtained from flowers. This is to feed the young as well as to provide a storage form of food high in energy. This honey is harvested by humans, but is not made for humans. Option B is incorrect.

Honey bees do have a poisonous sting. This is for protecting the colony from invaders. However, bees die after stinging other animals. For humans, this is generally a mildly irritating event, though some people are extremely allergic to bee stings. However, stingers are also found on some non-social animals like scorpions. Option C is incorrect. As option A is the correct answer, option D is naturally not correct.

Hence the correct answer is option ‘A’.

Note:The social structure of honey bees is fairly complex. The female workers are responsible for nest building, collection of food, and rearing the brood. Drones are adult males whose entire role is to mate with a new queen bee. They die after mating. Each colony has only one queen, characterised by an extra-large abdomen. A new queen immediately mates with drones after she emerges and flies off to start a new colony.