Honeybee

Front:
OMAHA SEP NE 1988 25USA 68109 25 USA Balke

Back:
HONEYBEE First Day of Issue: September 2, 1988 First Issue Location: Omaha, Nebraska More than 3500 years ago, in the land of ancient Egypt, people enjoyed the delicious honey produced by bees ... man's first source of sweets. And, these industrious insects are treasured for many other gifts as well — they pollinate crops and fruit trees, and most flowers. Honeybees follow a four-stage life cycle, passing through egg, larva, pupa and adult stages. Each colony consists of a queen bee, a few drones (males) and some 30,000 to 60,000 worker bees. The workers are females, but are unable to mate, so their eggs only hatch drones. At certain ages, the adult worker performs different tasks, from cleaning the hive, to feeding the larvae, to guarding the hive, to gathering food. When bees find a new source of food, they share the information through intricate "honey dances” which communicate direction and distance. Thus, the bees share a “social” existence which is both fascinating to observe and beneficial to all. No. 88-54 ©1988 The Maximum Card Collection A Division of Unicover Corporation Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007 Original painting by Don Balke