the secret life of honey bees - sc state beekeepers
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The Secret Life
of Honey Bees Apis mellifera L.
Dr. Deborah Delaney
University of Delaware
Morphology of the Honey Bee
The honey bee has three
body divisions
Head
Thorax
Abdomen
Exoskeleton
Body Hairs
Morphology of the Honey Bee
• The head serves as the
major sensory region of the
body; eyes, antennae,
sensory hairs. It also
functions to ingest and
digest food
Specialized Structures of the
Honey Bee • Visual perception occurs
through ocelli and compound
eyes
• Olfactory perception occurs
via the antennae
• Mouthparts: chewing and
lapping. They consist of paired
mandibles and the proboscis
Eyes
Ocelli (3)
Compound eyes (2)
Eyes
•Ocelli – light intensity, diurnal activity patterns,
orientation
•Compound eyes – worker: 6,900 hexagonal facets
drones: 8,600 facets
--Each facet has its own lens, pigmented cone,
sensory cells
--Mosaic image
•Sensory hairs
•Color vision- trichromatic vision
Color vision
• Trichromatic insects (honeybees) - three types of pigment receptors,
like humans - can distinguish more
• Pigment receptors do not coincide with ours (Roy G. Biv)
Compound Eyes
UV patterns visible to bees, not humans:
Courtesy Eisner Cornell Univ
UDEL Collections
Buttercup
swamp mallow
“Nectar
guides”
Antennae
Scape Flagellum
Pedicel
Pore plates
Antennae
•Topochemical olfactory sense
•Carbon dioxide receptors
•Moisture levels
•Taste receptors
•Johnston’s organ- flight speed
Mouthparts
Mandibles Proboscis
Morphology of the Honey Bee
• The thorax is the
locomotory region of the
body, housing three pairs
of legs and two pairs of
wings
Specialized Structures of Honey Bees: Legs
• Worker forelegs are
covered in hairs which help
clean dust and pollen from
head.
Specialized Structures of Honey Bees: Legs
• Worker hind legs
have a corbicula or
pollen basket which is
used to collect and
pack pollen and
propolis
Specialized Structures of Honey Bees
• Wings: They have
two pairs of wings
that hook together
via hamuli.
Specialized Structures of Honey Bees
• A workers wings beat at a
rate of 200 cycles/sec.
• The average flight speed
of a worker is 24 km/hr
Specialized Structures of the Honey Bee:
Abdomen
• Made up of seven visual segments
• Segments are made up of two plates
connected by membranes which allow for
expansion
• Contains most of the internal organs
Wax mirrors
Internal Adult Anatomy
The Digestive System: Honey Stomach or
Crop
• This is a specialized expandable structure that
stores honey from the hive used for flight energy in
the field
• It also stores nectar and water from the field for
transport back to the hive
Nervous System
• 5 main ganglia
Circulatory System
Open circulatory system
Respiratory System
Tracheal Air Sacs (10)
Major Glands of the Head:
Hypopharyngeal and Mandibular glands
Proteins expressed by the hypopharyngeal gland
Major Glands of the Abdomen
Wax glands
The Stinger!!!!!
• Highly modified ovipositor, which has evolved for
defensive purposes
• Honey bees loose their sting after use
• Venom is made up of proteins and peptides and can elicit
an array of immune responses
Colony Structure
• Honey bees live in a
large colony
• There are three main
players in a honey
bee hive
drone queen worker
Drones
Reproductive Organs
Bulb
Hairs
Clasper
Endophallus
Ovary (egg production)
Spermatheca (sperm storage)
Poison sac
Sting (sting rival queens)
Queen
Reproductive Organs
Immatures
Mechanisms of Social Organization
Social organization by social insects was long held
as an example by the aristocracy and various
religions as a model to how human societies should
be organized
Mechanisms of Social Organization Centralized
• Following a leader
• Using a plan, blueprint or
recipe
• Using a template or mould
http://www.fatherlovesaj.com/leader%20logo.jpg
Insect societies are well organized, but how do
they achieve this?
Proverbs 6: 6-8- “Go to the ant thou sluggard: consider her
ways, and be wise. Which having no guide, overseer of ruler,
provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food
in the harvest”.
In insect societies no one is in charge.
Mechanism of Social Organization Self –organization or
De-centralized
• Global pattern of organization arises from the
interactions of many individuals whom follow
simple rules in response to local conditions. No
one individual is in charge.
• Ex: cells in a multicellular organism, grains of
sand in a sand dune, social insect colonies
Activity
In what ways can
sociality benefit
insects?
Margy Nelson
Insect sociality
• Benefits of sociality:
– Utilization of large and more diverse resources
– Group defense against predators
– Existence as perennial, long-lived organisms
“Super-organism”
• Intake resources
• Waste disposal
• Defense
• Reproduction
• Environmental control
They use social design to solve ecological problems normally faced by single organisms- origin of the concept of “super-organism”
From Nectar to Honey?
Questions
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