---
title: "Social insects: ants and bees"
description: "Ants and honeybees live in colonies and share tasks such as collecting food, building and guarding. Queens mainly lay eggs. Male honeybees are called drones. Guards are workers, and workers can change"
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/social-insects-ants-and-bees-mt_guaaD6Dn2M
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/social-insects-ants-and-bees-mt_guaaD6Dn2M.md
retrieved: 2026-11-12
---

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# Social insects: ants and bees

Ants and honeybees live in colonies and share tasks such as collecting food, building and guarding. Queens mainly lay eggs. Male honeybees are called drones. Guards are workers, and workers can change tasks. A hive houses a honeybee colony. Many other kinds of bees live alone.

Subject: Science · Area: Insects & Minibeasts · Ages 7 to 9
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/social-insects-ants-and-bees-mt_guaaD6Dn2M

## Ready when they can

- Describe at least two roles in an ant or honeybee colony, including egg laying by queens and tasks done by workers
- Explain that ants and honeybees live in colonies where workers share jobs, including guarding
- Compare shared tasks in an ant or honeybee colony with tasks in a human team, while recognising that workers can change jobs

## Lesson: Busy teams: ants and bees

You have met ants and honeybees as insects. They live in groups called colonies. A hive is a home for a honeybee colony, not the group itself. Many other kinds of bees live alone. Ants and honeybees share colony jobs.

*(drawing: A made-up count of worker ants doing different jobs at one time. All three groups are workers.)*

A queen's main role is laying eggs. Honeybee colonies usually have one queen. Ant colonies may have one queen or several. Workers care for young and do other colony tasks. Male honeybees are called drones. They mate with queens rather than collecting food like workers.

Workers collect food, build and care for young. Ant workers may dig tunnels. Honeybee workers build wax cells. Guards are workers protecting the nest. Workers can change tasks as they grow or as needs change. One worker might collect food and later guard.

Think of people preparing a team meal. Some wash vegetables, some cook and some set the table. Sharing tasks helps get the meal ready. People can change tasks when help is needed. Colony workers also share tasks, helping provide food, shelter and care for the young.

To read the job chart, match each job name to its bar. A taller bar means more workers in that group. The tallest bar has the largest count. These made-up counts are not a rule for real colonies.

**Recap.** Ants and honeybees share colony jobs. Queens mainly lay eggs. Workers collect food, build and guard. Workers can change tasks.

*Original lesson, questions and flashcards written for this learning dataset.*

## Practice

8 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Needs first

- [The insect body plan](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/the-insect-body-plan-mt_oNWXXAn3cn)

## Opens up

- [Insect communication and behaviour](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/insect-communication-and-behaviour-mt_a9VnPBhoYs)
- [Animal Groups & Survival](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/animal-groups-and-survival-mt_i4bDqjyglj)
- [Bees and pollination](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/bees-and-pollination-mt_SZJ1mN7Vfk)