Fun Fact Friday : Bees

Bees are fun right?  Generally, no they are not, especially with kids (and I have 3 kids). Bubble bees are relatively harmless and cute, but with kids everything gets "lumped" together as a bee, whether it is a bubble bee, honey bee, wasp, hornet, yellow jacket, Africanized honey bee (killer bee), whatever.  If it flies and has a stinger, or even looks like it has a stinger it is, to a child, a bee.  In fact most flies are considered bees by my younger daughter-- even fruit flies.

Well here is a fun fact about BEES, real bees.  A bee may fly up to 60 miles in a day while gathering food.  That would be the equivalent to running more than 2 marathons through the grocery store while gathering food in one day.

That is all I have for Fun Fact Friday, but here is an interesting video clip by national geographic about killer bees in the amazon rain forest. 



If you're having a problem with bees, wasps, hornets, yellow jackets, paper wasps, etc. in or around your home please give me a call.  I'd be happy to help!

Micah Wood
Peak Pest Management
503-998-4322
360-607-1933
206-790-8285
micah@peak-pest-management.com
www.peak-pest-management.com

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Department of Systematic Bilogy, Entomology Section, National Museum of Natural History, Bug Info Sheet Number 177.  www.si.edu

Flies in Space | NASA | Fun Fact Friday

Flies in Space!  Sounds like another movie title, but it's not!  NASA actually used/uses fruit flies to do studies in space!  Here is a link to the home page for flies in space : FLIES IN SPACE. This part of the site is fun and built for kids, so if you want a fun summer science lesson for your kids (because hey why not learn in the summer) check it out.  There is quite a bit more than I am going to share in this blog post!

NASA took flies into space to study a number of things.  The reason they chose common fruit flies is that they could transport and keep a population of thousands in a space as small as a hand.  The larger the sample size, the more accurate the findings from the study are. The short life cycle of the fly also makes it ideal for studying the effects of being in space on genetics.  

The life cycle of a fruit fly is :

• Egg - The egg/embryo stage is one day.
• 1 stage larva - The fruit fly is in this stage for one day and then molts.
• 2 stage larva - The fruit fly is in this stage for two days and then molts.
• 3 stage larva - The fruit fly is in this stage for three days and then molts.
• Pupa - Much like a butterfly the fruit fly enters into a pupa phase and stays there for about 5 days.
• Adult - After 10 hours the adult becomes a fertile adult and (if female) lays eggs.

The whole life cycle is less 12-15 days long.  The short lifespan of the fly makes it ideal for study in space.  There is much more information on the NASA page linked above.  Being Fun Fact Friday, I'll keep it short -- NASA studies or at least studied flies in space!

Pest Control Professionals use the same biological information as NASA to know how to best treat restaurants and homes for fruit flies.  Peak Pest Management can help you out with a fruit fly (or other fly) infestation in your home.  Peak Pest Management is here for all your pest control needs.  Please call any time if you have a pest problem we can help you with!

Micah Wood

Peak Pest Management

www.Peak-Pest-Management.com

micah@peak-pest-management.com

360-607-1933

503-998-4322