Front:
NE
OMAHA
SEP
1988
68108
25USA
25
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
