Desert Bee

Basic Information

Anatomy

Unlike most bees, wasps, hornets, or other related creatures, desert bees have no stingers. This is because many creatures of the desert have thick, dry skin that stingers cannot pierce, and so the desert bee evolved much stronger mandibles. They are dark in color, mostly black. There are worker bees, all female, who work on maintaining the hive, pollinators, male and female, who harvest pollen from carefully cultivated cactus flowers, and breeders, all male, who tend to and pamper the queen bee, fertilizing her eggs.

Genetics and Reproduction

Reproduction follows standard bee colony patterns.

Growth Rate & Stages

Growth and life cycle followers standard bee patterns.

Ecology and Habitats

Desert bees cannot survive without a healthy cactus. They hollow out parts of the cactus by tearing into it with their mandibles, but only enough to build a modest hive without killing the cactus. They need to keep the cactus alive, as they receive their nectar from the flowers. To keep this cactus alive, they will fight off any parasitic insects seeking to use the cacti's water. In especially dry seasons, the bees will dig into the sand at the base of the cactus, to create wells that the cactus can draw water from with its roots. The wax produced by the bees is used both to create their hive, and to maintain the structural integrity of their cacti.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Dietary needs follow standard bee habits.

Conservation Status

Desert bees are rare, and are beneficial to the cactus they inhabit, so there is almost never any reason to kill them. Due to their rarity, citizens in desert towns are encouraged to plant cacti for desert bees to inhabit.