The way to tell the age of a honey bee is by whether it still has a lot of golden baby down on its thorax. Older bees, constantly squeezing past other bees in the narrow aisles in the hive, will have worn away much of their golden fine fuzz. Younger bees haven't, and feel like a kitten or a baby chick. Sometimes if I find a calm young bee, I take off my glove and gently pet it. Soft!
Bees, unlike most other bugs, generate their own
heat instead of merely adapting to the outside
temperature. They keep the center of the hive a
toasty 34 degrees Celsius (94–96 degrees Fahrenheit),
whether winter or summer.