Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Genus: Apis
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Genus: Apis
“Everything takes time. Bees have to move very fast to stay still.” ― David Foster Wallace, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
The Biology of a Honey Bee.
Honey bees are members of the genus Apis. Honey Bees are primarily known for production of honey and wax. Currently there are only seven known species of honey bees with over 44 sub spices classified. Prior to introduction by early colonists, there are no known records of honey bees inhabiting the new world. Honey Bees are primarily social insects and exist in a colony structure. Members of the colony are divided into three subcategories, drones, workers, and queens.
The drones primarily function is to act as fertilizers to the queens. During this mating the drones sexual and reproductive organs are ripped from their body and the drone dies. Drones do not participate in gathering of pollen or hive construction.
Worker bees are female bees who do not have reproductive capability. These worker bees gather pollen, attend the queen and larva, build the honeycomb, and pack pollen for the brood. Worker bees may live between four weeks to several months.
The queen bee is the mother of the hive. She is in charge of development of the larvae. For a bee to become a queen the larva is specially feed royal jelly. This royal jelly causes a cellular change in the larva that causes development of sexually mature organs. This cellular modification allows the queen to be the only member of the colony who is capable of reproduction. Unlike drones and worker bees, queen bees may survive for three to four years depending on colony conditions.
Honey bees are members of the genus Apis. Honey Bees are primarily known for production of honey and wax. Currently there are only seven known species of honey bees with over 44 sub spices classified. Prior to introduction by early colonists, there are no known records of honey bees inhabiting the new world. Honey Bees are primarily social insects and exist in a colony structure. Members of the colony are divided into three subcategories, drones, workers, and queens.
The drones primarily function is to act as fertilizers to the queens. During this mating the drones sexual and reproductive organs are ripped from their body and the drone dies. Drones do not participate in gathering of pollen or hive construction.
Worker bees are female bees who do not have reproductive capability. These worker bees gather pollen, attend the queen and larva, build the honeycomb, and pack pollen for the brood. Worker bees may live between four weeks to several months.
The queen bee is the mother of the hive. She is in charge of development of the larvae. For a bee to become a queen the larva is specially feed royal jelly. This royal jelly causes a cellular change in the larva that causes development of sexually mature organs. This cellular modification allows the queen to be the only member of the colony who is capable of reproduction. Unlike drones and worker bees, queen bees may survive for three to four years depending on colony conditions.
The European honey bee (Apis mellifera) can be broken up into there primary segments. The head, The thorax, and the abdomen.
THE HEAD
The head contains the honey bee's eyes, antennae, and feeding structure.
The Eyes:
The eyes of a honey bee are made up of two compound eyes and three simple eyes. The honey bees compound eyes are made up of over a thousand photo-sensitive cells which help the bee process information about color, light, and direction from the suns ultraviolet rays.
The simple eyes of the honey bee help the bee distinguish the amount of visible light. This provides the bee with information concerned for direction and movement through their environment.
Sensory Antennae:
The antennae functions much like the nose of the honey. The antennae are covered with very fine sensilla, small transmitters of neurons that allow the sensory information to be sent directly to the honey bees brain.
The antennae allows the bee to detect odors from the environment. While this allows them to detect pollen in flowers, it also acts as a system to provide information on bees around them. Through this honey bees are able to tell if a bee next to them is a friend or a foe.
The Mouth Parts:
Like most insects, the honey bee's mouth is made up of a complex system of parts. The honey bee's mouth is made up of two primary parts, the Mandible and the proboscis.
The mandible
The mandible are the jaws of the honey bee. These powerful jaws help the bee eat pollen, cut and shape wax, feed the queen and the larva, clean the hive, and fight.
The Proboscis
The Proboscis of the honey bee is a long slender tongue. This tongue acts as a straw system to allow the honey bee to bring food such as nectar, honey, and water, into the mouth of the bee. After feeding the proboscis retracts to behind the head.
THE THORAX
The thorax of the honey bee contains the wings, legs, and muscles involved in the movement of the bee. A honey bee has two pairs of wings and three pairs of legs connected to their thorax.
The Forewing
The forewings primary function in the anatomy of a honey bee is to provide flight, but as a secondary function it can provide cooling for the bee.
The Hindwing
The hindwing's primary function is also for flight. The hindwing and forewing are attached by small hooks called hamull. These hooks insure that both wings beat in synchronicity
The Legs
The legs are made up of five parts. The coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia, and tarsus, These parts act as the bee's hips, thighs, shins. and feet. Each segment is connected with joints that provide motion for the bee's leg structures. Along with these segments a bee has three specialized structures.
Pollen Baskets
The pollen baskets of a honey bee are a smooth, concave surface on the outer side of a bees leg. These baskets provide space to be used to transport pollen and propolis to the hive.
Pollen Press
The pollen press is locate between the honey bee's hind legs. This structure allows the bee to press collected pollen particles into small pellets for transportation.
Rakes and Combs
The rakes and combs are small structures on the legs of the bee. These rakes and combs are used for grooming the sticky hair of the bee to remove and collect pollen.
The Abdomen
The Organs
The abdomen houses the majority of the honey bee's internal organs. Passageways called spiracules act as air ducts for the honey bee to breath. A network of tubes and tracheae carry oxygen into the honey bee's body. An aorta in the honey bee's thorax acts to pump hemplymph (a combination of fluids that is made up of both blood and interstital fluid) around the organs, unlike mammal that use a vein system for blood transportation. In the interstital fluid oxygen is absorbed into the organs without the need for red blood cells, this causes the fluid to be colorless rather then red. The abdomen also houses the honey bee's digestive system that includes a crop, this is where the honey bee stores nectar to digestion.
The Stinger
The stinger is the only appendage present on the bee's abdomen. The stinger is a modifed ovipositor (egg depositor). While this is similar in manner of a wasps ovipositor, a bee uses their stinger to inject venom instead of eggs. When a stinger is not in use, it is retracted into a chamber within the abdmoen. Much like a hypodermic needle, a bees stinger needle is hallow. The needle is made up of three segments.
The stylet:
Located at the top of the needle, the stylet provides ridges to cause small lacerations to the skin. This allows the stinger to grip on entry. This paired wit the lances allows the stylet to drive deeper and deeper into the skin.
The Lancets:
When the stinger penetrates the skin, the two lancets slide back and forth on top of the ridges of the stylet causing the stylet to move deeper into the skin. The poison canal is located within these lancets. The movement of the lancets forces the venom through the canal into the skin of the creature stung.
THE HEAD
The head contains the honey bee's eyes, antennae, and feeding structure.
The Eyes:
The eyes of a honey bee are made up of two compound eyes and three simple eyes. The honey bees compound eyes are made up of over a thousand photo-sensitive cells which help the bee process information about color, light, and direction from the suns ultraviolet rays.
The simple eyes of the honey bee help the bee distinguish the amount of visible light. This provides the bee with information concerned for direction and movement through their environment.
Sensory Antennae:
The antennae functions much like the nose of the honey. The antennae are covered with very fine sensilla, small transmitters of neurons that allow the sensory information to be sent directly to the honey bees brain.
The antennae allows the bee to detect odors from the environment. While this allows them to detect pollen in flowers, it also acts as a system to provide information on bees around them. Through this honey bees are able to tell if a bee next to them is a friend or a foe.
The Mouth Parts:
Like most insects, the honey bee's mouth is made up of a complex system of parts. The honey bee's mouth is made up of two primary parts, the Mandible and the proboscis.
The mandible
The mandible are the jaws of the honey bee. These powerful jaws help the bee eat pollen, cut and shape wax, feed the queen and the larva, clean the hive, and fight.
The Proboscis
The Proboscis of the honey bee is a long slender tongue. This tongue acts as a straw system to allow the honey bee to bring food such as nectar, honey, and water, into the mouth of the bee. After feeding the proboscis retracts to behind the head.
THE THORAX
The thorax of the honey bee contains the wings, legs, and muscles involved in the movement of the bee. A honey bee has two pairs of wings and three pairs of legs connected to their thorax.
The Forewing
The forewings primary function in the anatomy of a honey bee is to provide flight, but as a secondary function it can provide cooling for the bee.
The Hindwing
The hindwing's primary function is also for flight. The hindwing and forewing are attached by small hooks called hamull. These hooks insure that both wings beat in synchronicity
The Legs
The legs are made up of five parts. The coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia, and tarsus, These parts act as the bee's hips, thighs, shins. and feet. Each segment is connected with joints that provide motion for the bee's leg structures. Along with these segments a bee has three specialized structures.
Pollen Baskets
The pollen baskets of a honey bee are a smooth, concave surface on the outer side of a bees leg. These baskets provide space to be used to transport pollen and propolis to the hive.
Pollen Press
The pollen press is locate between the honey bee's hind legs. This structure allows the bee to press collected pollen particles into small pellets for transportation.
Rakes and Combs
The rakes and combs are small structures on the legs of the bee. These rakes and combs are used for grooming the sticky hair of the bee to remove and collect pollen.
The Abdomen
The Organs
The abdomen houses the majority of the honey bee's internal organs. Passageways called spiracules act as air ducts for the honey bee to breath. A network of tubes and tracheae carry oxygen into the honey bee's body. An aorta in the honey bee's thorax acts to pump hemplymph (a combination of fluids that is made up of both blood and interstital fluid) around the organs, unlike mammal that use a vein system for blood transportation. In the interstital fluid oxygen is absorbed into the organs without the need for red blood cells, this causes the fluid to be colorless rather then red. The abdomen also houses the honey bee's digestive system that includes a crop, this is where the honey bee stores nectar to digestion.
The Stinger
The stinger is the only appendage present on the bee's abdomen. The stinger is a modifed ovipositor (egg depositor). While this is similar in manner of a wasps ovipositor, a bee uses their stinger to inject venom instead of eggs. When a stinger is not in use, it is retracted into a chamber within the abdmoen. Much like a hypodermic needle, a bees stinger needle is hallow. The needle is made up of three segments.
The stylet:
Located at the top of the needle, the stylet provides ridges to cause small lacerations to the skin. This allows the stinger to grip on entry. This paired wit the lances allows the stylet to drive deeper and deeper into the skin.
The Lancets:
When the stinger penetrates the skin, the two lancets slide back and forth on top of the ridges of the stylet causing the stylet to move deeper into the skin. The poison canal is located within these lancets. The movement of the lancets forces the venom through the canal into the skin of the creature stung.