Экзаменационный (типовой) материал ОГЭ / Английский / 13-19 задание / 59

         Think of the last time you saw a bee. Perhaps it was busily gathering nectar from a flower in your garden. Maybe it was flying around a sweet drink you had at a picnic. Did you ever think about where that bee might live and what it does once it flies away? Chances are it lives a more interesting and complex life than you ever suspected.
         Today, the honey bee can be found on every continent except Antarctica. It can survive only as a member of a colony, where each bee plays a very specific role. In each honey bee colony, there are three types of bees: the queen bee, the worker bees and the drones.
         The queen is different from the rest of the bees in a colony in several ways. She is the only bee in the colony to reproduce, so she is the mother of all the other bees in the colony. She can lay an enormous number of eggs – as many as 1,500 every day! The weight of all those eggs is about the same as the queen’s entire body.
         One of the differences between the queen bee and the worker bees is that it doesn’t die when it stings. Her stinger is smooth and easy to remove. The queen bee can sting many times without hurting itself. Another difference between the queen and the worker bees is that the queen can live for one to three years, while a worker bee can live for only about six
weeks.
         A colony of honey bees is mostly made up of worker bees. A single colony may contain as many as 80,000 worker bees. They are called worker bees for a very good reason. Their job is to build and maintain the nest, gather nectar and pollen to make honey, and care for the young bees. If the hive becomes too warm for the eggs and young bees, the worker bees fan their wings to make it cooler. When the hive becomes too cool, they gather around the eggs and young bees to warm them with their own bodies. Workers are the only bees most people see flying around outside the hive. And they are fantastic flyers: they fly at a speed of
about 25 km per hour and beat their wings 200 times per second.
         One of the most fascinating things about honey bees is their way of communicating. Bees are able to tell each other where to find food by doing complicated “dances”. These dances can tell bees how far away food can be found and in which direction it is located. The moves they make are so clear that scientists who have studied bee communication can actually watch a dance and follow a bee’s directions.
         Sadly, over the past 15 years, colonies of bees have been disappearing, and the reason remains unknown. Billions of honey bees across the world are leaving their homes, never to return. In some regions, up to 90% of bees have disappeared.

13. Honey bees cannot live in Africa because of high temperatures.