The Pollinator Bee

The Bee is considered by Naturalists as belonging to what are called societies of insects, and, in entomological arrangements, is placed in the subphylum Hexapoda, class Insecta, subclass Pterygota,  infraclass Neoptera, order Hymenoptera, and genus Apis.

Bees live in very well organized colonies that consist of the Queen which is the mother and the mistress of the hive; she is distinguishable from the rest of the society by her majestic movements, by the great length of her body, the proportional shortness of her wings, and her bent sting. The color also distinguishes her, the back is of a much brighter black, and the legs are of a deep golden yellow color. Its only role is to lay eggs, and its food is very special it’s known as royal jelly produced by the hypopharyngeal gland possessed by the worker bees. This rich blend of proteins and vitamins is fed to all bee larvae for the first three days of their lives. After which workers and drones are fed a mixture of pollen and honey. When a female larva is fed continuously on royal jelly, she will rapidly develop into a queen bee. This nutritious diet will remain the only food that a queen will ever consume, allowing her to maintain a high level of continuous egg production.

Next in order come the working bees, these are, by some, called neuters or mules; by others, female non-breeders. They are sterile females with undeveloped ovaries. In a single hives the number of these varies from 12,000 to 20,000. They are the smallest members of the community, they rear the young, guard the entrances, elaborate the wax, collect and store the provision, and build the cells in which it is warehoused.

Thirdly, there are the drones or males; their number varies from 1,500 or 2,000. They are one third larger than the workers, somewhat thicker and darker. Its function is to fertilize the queen.

                                          Figure 1: The Queen, Worker, and Drone. 

The ability to fly far and fast has greatly contributed to the success of the bee. They can forage up to three miles from their hives, and reach speeds of 15 miles per hour. Bees have four wings. They possess compound eyes which contain over 6,500 facets, allowing it to see in front, to the side, above and below itself, allowing it to see in front, to the side, above and below itself. In addition, bees can perceive all the colors visible to humans except for red, which appears black to them. Honey bees, like many other insects, can see UV light as a separate color, which we cannot. Bees can also detect the polarization of UV light, which aids their navigation on cloudy days, when the sun is not visible in the sky. In addition Bees have three simple eyes, called ocelli. Bee’s antennae are covered with thousands of sensory cells for touch and smell, a bee’s sense of smell is very important in locating food and in communication between hive members. These sensitive organs also relay information about air speed and orientation during flight.

The bee’s body is covered with branched setae, or feathery hairs. Pollen grains stick to these hairs as the bees forage on flowers. Some of the pollen is transferred to new plants, resulting in the fertilization of the flowers. The rest is later combed into the pollen basket or corbicula, and carried back to the hive; these finely branched hairs are unique to the bees. Each bee pair of legs is also equipped with special structures and arrangements of setae for grooming the body or pollen and debris. The bee's six strong legs provide a very stable base for walking or standing, ensuring that at least three feet can contact the surface at all times when moving. Each foot is equipped with claws for grabbing uneven surfaces, as well as a sticky pad for gripping smooth surfaces. Each pair of legs is also equipped with special structures and arrangements of setae for grooming the body or pollen and debris. The pollen basket, or corbicula, is made of long stiff hairs that curve around a wide flattened section of the honey bees back leg. Stiff hairs on the other legs are used to comb pollen grains from the bee's body, which is compacted and stored in the pollen basket for transport back to the hive.

                                                  Figure 2: Structure of the Bee.

The honey bee has a long tongue, or proboscis, which it uses to lap up nectar from deep inside the flowers.

                            Figure 3: The pollen grains are stacked on the Bees’ body. 

Wax glands on the underside of the bee's abdomen secrete flakes of beeswax, which is used to build the honeycombs. Many bees work together to produce and form the wax that becomes their home. Bees must consume at least eight pounds of honey in order to metabolize one pound of wax. Mouthparts, or mandibles, are strong and very useful. The jaws are attached to powerful muscles, and can be used to pick up and remove debris from the hive, to attack intruders, and to delicately manipulate the wax into perfectly formed honeycombs.

Yellow and black stripes are nature's warning colors. Like many wasps and bees, these highly visible markings warn other animals that the insect can be dangerous. Many harmless flies have adopted these colors as well, to fool predators into thinking they may be able to sting.

The stinger is used by the bee only for defense. The end is barbed, like a fish hook, so it can penetrate skin, but not easily come out. When a bee stings, its stinger and attached venom sac is torn from her abdomen, and she will die shortly afterward. Honey bees are not naturally aggressive, and are reluctant to sting unless they feel that they, or their nest, are threatened. The shaft of the stinger is a modified ovipositor (egg-laying structure), and is therefore only found in worker bees. The queen bee's ovipositor is not barbed, and is used for egg-laying, but she can sting rival queens and occasionally will sting a careless beekeeper if she is mishandled.