This large group includes almonds, apples, apricots, avocados, blackberries, cantaloupes, cherries, cranberries, cucumbers, pears, raspberries, strawberries, and watermelon. The seeds of many vegetables also depend on the honey bee. The value of crops that rely on the bee has been estimated as high as ten billion dollars annually in the United States. Bee scientists have developed a way for the queens to skip their hibernation and produce colonies year round. Colonies of bumble bees are used extensively in greenhouse pollination of crops such as strawberries and tomatoes.
Honey bees are an excellent source of honey and beeswax.
These substance are used to make many objects that are useful to humans such as candles, polishes, and ointments. Beeswax can be used to make gum, inks, lipsticks, and crayons. Honey bees produce a gummy substance called propolis, which they convert from tree sap. In addition to its anitbacterial properties, propolis also contains royal jelly and pollen for human consumption. Honey bee venom is extracted and used in the production of antivenom therapies.