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