In praise of bees: the Cupid of the flowering world

Honeybees tend to get the most attention, but in Britain alone there are about 270 different species of beeInvertebrate of the year 2024: all hail Earth's spineless heroesThe voracious Asian hornet - the invertebrate symbol of our dark timesNominate your UK invertebrate species of the yearHoneybees turn nectar into honey. Plenty of other insects drink the sweet energy drink produced by flowers to fuel their flight, but no other stockpiles a concentrated version of it to see it through the winter. And we've prized this natural sweetener for thousands of years for both its culinary and medicinal qualities.Honeybees also secrete wax from a gland to construct their honeycomb home of hexagonal wax cells. And we've harvested it for centuries to make candles and seal documents.Alison Benjamin is co-author of The Good Bee: A Celebration of Bees - and How to Save Them, out in paperback in April.Welcome to the Guardian's UK invertebrate of the year competition. Every day between 2 April and 12 April we'll be profiling one of the incredible invertebrates that live in and around the UK. Let us know which invertebrates you think we should be including here. And at midnight on Friday 12 April, voting will open to decide which is our favourite invertebrate - for now - with the winner to be announced on Monday 15 April. Continue reading...