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Honey bees (or honeybees) are a subset of bees in the genus Apis, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis. Currently, there are only seven recognized species of honey bee with a total of 44 subspecies though historically, anywhere from six to eleven species have been recognized. Honey bees represent only a small fraction of the approximately 20,000 known species of bees. Some other types of related bees produce and store honey, but only members of the genus Apis are true honey bees. Apiculture is the art of beekeeping. More than just keeping hives and harvesting honey, apiculture includes setting up properly located and constructed hives, making sure they have access to plentiful sources of nectar, and preparing the harvested liquid honey after it has been taken from the hive.

                 Understanding worker bee anatomy can help beekeepers understand bee biology. They are well equipped for life as social animals and to be successful in the environment.

Bees are well covered by branched (plumose) body hairs. They also have thousands of unbranched hairs covering their body which are for sensory purposes. The hairs extend from the body exoskeleton that gives shape and form to a bee. There are no internal bones -bees like all insects have an external skeleton rather than an internal one. The exoskeleton helps protect the delicate internal structures, conserves internal body fluids so the body does not desiccate, and also serves as a protective barrier to the entry of pathogens.

 Bees are typical insects in that they have three body regions –

·         head,

·         thorax

·         abdomen.

Head of the Honey Bee

                The head is the center of information gathering. It is here that the visual, gustatory and olfactory inputs are received and processed. Of course, food is also input from here.  Important organs on or inside the head:

1. Antennae,

2. Eyes,

3. Mouth parts,

4. Internal structures.

           The head also has conspicuous compound eyes which have a fair degree of visual ability including the detection of colors, movement and distance. The eyes are compound with a wide vision for a large area ideally suited for large patches of fields when they are foraging. Bees have special powers in their eyes to know directional knowledge through the sun’s rays. This facilitates their returning to their homes safely as well mark pick and marks their next foraging location. Bees also have three Simple eyes on top of the Compound eyes, and 3 other separate simple eyes called ocelli. These simpler eyes are for navigation in unfamiliar territory to measure the amount of light in any area.

                         The lower portion of the honey bee head has several structures that combine to make up the mouthparts. Bees have spatula-shaped mandibles to manipulate beeswax and a proboscis, of several parts folded together, to form a straw-like tube to suck up liquids.

These mandibles are the jaws of the bees with many functions:

a. Cut and shape beeswax to produce strong, uniform cells in the hive.

b. Help the bee consume pollen and honey.

c. Help the bee collect water for various uses inside the hive and for self-hydration.

d. Mandibles are also used to feed the young bee larvae that reside in open honeycomb cells. Worker bees are also responsible for feeding the queen bee, which barely has time to groom and feed herself because her main function is to lay eggs across the hive structure ceaselessly.

e. Mandibles are also very useful to help the bee groom and eliminating a parasite that may get attached to the body.

f. When invaders are present, mandibles are also used to attack fellow insects, bees from other colonies, and larger animals.

                           A bee’s proboscis is used mainly for drinking water and collecting nectar, which is then stored in the bee’s body until it reaches the hive, where it deposits the nectar in cells. The bees have to use water and air the nectar they deposit to facilitate curing process in the beginning itself. There is also food exchanges form one bee to another or a drone through the Proboscis.

                         A pair of antennae extend forward from the head in bees they have a unique shape with an el-bow-like angle so terminal segments bend at a right angle.

          Tiny antenna-like palpi are loaded with sensory hairs to enable bees to detect numerous sugars, salt, sour and bitter foods. Bees have Antenna to smell anything especially honey and enemies. There are two functions for the antenna for pollen and nectar in their hunt. The Antenna informs the bee of sources of food at present. And also where else they are for the future. They pick up the directional sense for this in the air.

Thorax of the Honey Bee

 

 The middle body portion, the thorax is made up of three boxes –like segments with a pair of legs extending from the lower portion of each segment and a pair of wings from the top corner of the second and third segments.  Bees have 2 pairs of wings and three pairs of legs. The legs are very versatile, with claws on the last tarsomere, allowing bees to have good grip on rough surfaces (tree trunks etc), but also with a soft pad (arolium) to allow bees to walk on smooth surfaces (leaves or even glass!). There are also special structures on legs to help bee get more pollen.

                 

Wings

          The front wings are larger than the hind wings and the two are synchronized in flight with a row of wing hooks on the hind wing that would hitch into a fold on the rear edge of the front wing.

Legs

                       On the front leg, there is a special structure used for cleaning antenna (when too many pollen grains stuck there), properly called the "antenna cleaner". The third pair has stiff hairs arranged in rows on the inner portion to comb pollen from body hairs and a special rrangement of long, curved hairs to form a pollen basket on the outer surface.

Abdomen of the Honey Bee

                  On the surface the abdomen has no special outside structures, but is the center for digestion and reproduction (for drones and queens). It also houses the sting, a powerful defense against us humans.

          The abdomen appears as a serious of similar rings or segments from the outside. Each segment has a pair of openings, spiracles, which are opening into internal respiratory system. The segments of the abdomen taper to the back where a sting is concealed unit used for defense.

Wax Scales

                    Workers around 6-12 days old can produce wax scales in their four pairs of wax glands. The glands are concealed between the inter-segmental membranes, but the wax scales produced can be seen, usually even with naked eyes. The scales are thin and quite clear. After workers chew them up and add saliva, it becomes more whitish.

 Sting

           Once a worker bee stings, the bee tries to get away. The sting has barbs preventing the sting to be pulled out. The sting apparatus breaks off and is left behind. The sting, venom gland, and muscles controlling the gland, will work autonomously to pump venom into the victim. Alarm pheromone is also released to "mark" the victim. This sends a signal to other bees to sting you again.

                                                                                                                                    -  c.n rathnayaka