May 20 is an important day because it is World Bee Day, an international day to acknowledge the role of bees as pollinators in our ecosystem. Bees are critical to the global food supply. About one-third of all the food we eat would suffer dire consequences if honeybees vanished. If you really want to understand bees and their hives, you need to realize that the queen bee isn’t just a figurehead but is the genetic engine of a colony that’s key to a hive’s entire survival. A queen mates only once in her life — but that single event is anything but simple; she is more important in the bee world than any queen could ever be in our human world.
A bee colony is a superorganism. Inside a hive, tens of thousands of bees function as one living system. At the center is the queen, whose sole job is to lay eggs — up to 2,000 a day in peak season. Prominent beekeeper Bill Hesbach will discuss the mystery and beauty of bee flight, the queen’s mating flight and the process of fertilization. She mates with multiple drones (males) in midair — typically 10 to 20 — in rapid succession. Each drone dies immediately after mating, a biological sacrifice to pass on his genetics. (Humans would be arrested for trying this!)
Bill will also discuss how bees run their society with a surprising democratic structure, and the fact that the biggest challenge to bees isn’t honey production — it’s survival. Bees face pressure from parasites like the varroa mite, pesticides and habitat loss.
He is a Connecticut beekeeper with a background in engineering. He is a Certified Master Beekeeper at the Eastern Apicultural Society and a graduate of the University of Montana’s Master Beekeeping Program. He is also the president of the Connecticut Beekeepers Association, a group of beekeepers located throughout the state, and is on the board of directors of the Eastern Apicultural Society. The Connecticut Beekeepers Association is the largest organization in the state dedicated to supporting beekeepers, educating the public and promoting healthy honeybee populations across the state.
Bill teaches bee biology and various beekeeping methods at meetings and workshops hosted by regional clubs and organizations. He is an active member of the Eastern Apicultural Society and part of its Master Beekeeper certification program. He is also a regular speaker at national beekeeping seminars and the recipient of the 2019 Eastern Apiculture Society’s “Distinguished Speaker Award.”
He operates Wing Dance Apiary in Cheshire, Conn., where he manages a sideline beekeeping operation that provides raw honey and other hive products to the local community. He is a published author with articles appearing in Bee Culture — The Magazine of American Beekeeping, Bee Craft, which is Britain’s best-selling beekeeping magazine, and The American Bee Journal, the oldest English-speaking bee publication in the world.
Summary
With May 20, 2026, being “World Bee Day,” members of the Darien Men’s Association were reminded that bees are far more than honey producers — they are among the most essential creatures sustaining life on Earth. The presentation by prominent Connecticut beekeeper Bill Hesbach explored the interesting biology, behavior and societal importance of honeybees with a blend of science, humor and storytelling.
Bill explained that roughly one-third of the global food supply depends on pollinators such as bees. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, coffee, cocoa and even dairy production (through pollinated grazing crops) would suffer dramatically if honeybees disappeared. The presentation described a bee colony as a “superorganism” in which tens of thousands of bees function collectively as a single living system centered around the queen bee, whose primary purpose is reproduction.
Much of the lecture focused on the extraordinary mechanics of bee flight. For decades, scientists incorrectly believed bees should not be able to fly under traditional aerodynamic theories. Modern research revealed that tiny vortices generated along rapidly moving wings create the lift that enables bees to fly, hover and even carry loads heavier than their own body weight. Honeybees can beat their wings more than 200 times per second and may log millions of wing beats during their short working lives.
Bill also described the remarkable mating behavior of queen bees, whose single mating period with numerous drones determines the genetic future of an entire colony. He explained how bees navigate using temporary mental maps, communicate food locations through the famous “waggle dance,” and organize themselves into highly specialized roles ranging from nurses and guards to undertakers.
Beyond the science, the presentation underscored growing threats to bee survival, including pesticides, parasites, habitat loss and industrial-scale pollination practices. Bill argued that responsible beekeeping is a form of animal husbandry requiring stewardship and respect for one of nature’s most vital creatures.