Bee home before dark. Why honey and bumble bees can't fly at night

By Maria Jimenez Moya |

USA TODAY - Honey bees and bumble bees only fly during the day. Even though these bees cannot technically see, they can use the sun's rays (polarized light) to guide them, said Quinn S. McFrederick, associate professor of entomology at the University of California Riverside.

Bees have compound eyes, one on each on the side of their head, made up of thousands of small lenses. "So each of their eyes is actually a collection of many, many individual islands," McFrederick said.

They also have three ocelli or simple eyes, above the compound eyes, that aid in detecting light and movement.

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