Apis mellifera 101
Figure 6Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Genus: Apis
Species: mellifera
The honey bee, though it has existed for nearly 40 million years, is not native to North America. It arrived with the first European settlers in the 1600s, and has since grown to be one of the primary pollinators on the continent. A member of the order Hymenoptera, which contains around 90,000 species, honey bees are among the most advanced insects. Although the European honey bee is most commonly used in the U.S., there are close to 30 subspecies worldwide.
Like all insects, honey bees are divided into 3 sections: the head, thorax and abdomen. They have four wings and six legs, with pollen baskets on the hind legs for easy carrying. The bright colors, yellow-orange and black, are a warning to potential threats, as the barbed stinger at the end of the abdomen (only on females) attaches to a venom gland and delivers a painful sting when the bee needs to defend herself or her colony. The two compound eyes create a mosaic image, and especially pick up bright colors, except for red, which they cannot see. The plier-like mandibles are used in many of the daily functions of honey bees.
Honey bees are social insects that live in large, organized family groups and work together on tasks. The hives they live in can hold 20,000 to 80,000 bees. They are organized into three castes, or specialized groups: queens, drones, and workers.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Genus: Apis
Species: mellifera
The honey bee, though it has existed for nearly 40 million years, is not native to North America. It arrived with the first European settlers in the 1600s, and has since grown to be one of the primary pollinators on the continent. A member of the order Hymenoptera, which contains around 90,000 species, honey bees are among the most advanced insects. Although the European honey bee is most commonly used in the U.S., there are close to 30 subspecies worldwide.
Like all insects, honey bees are divided into 3 sections: the head, thorax and abdomen. They have four wings and six legs, with pollen baskets on the hind legs for easy carrying. The bright colors, yellow-orange and black, are a warning to potential threats, as the barbed stinger at the end of the abdomen (only on females) attaches to a venom gland and delivers a painful sting when the bee needs to defend herself or her colony. The two compound eyes create a mosaic image, and especially pick up bright colors, except for red, which they cannot see. The plier-like mandibles are used in many of the daily functions of honey bees.
Honey bees are social insects that live in large, organized family groups and work together on tasks. The hives they live in can hold 20,000 to 80,000 bees. They are organized into three castes, or specialized groups: queens, drones, and workers.
The Queen
The only sexually developed female in the colony, the queen's main function is egg-laying, and she does it superbly. In one day she can lay up to 1,500 eggs; in one year she can produce 250,000; and in her entire life, she an lay over one million. Her anatomy is different from the other bees, with a longer abdomen, larger thorax, and longer, unbarbed stinger. She also lacks the pollen baskets, wax glands, and honey sac. On average, she lives 2-3 years, but can survive for up to 5. |
The queen also has an important social role: she produces the social pheromones (an especially important one called 'queen substance') that keeps the colony together. Other pheromones inhibit the ovarian development of the workers and attract the drones for mating. The genetic makeup of the queen bee, through her pheromones and offspring, determines the many aspects of the colony, including its size, quality and temperament. As an egg, several larvae are fed royal jelly, causing them to develop into queens. Once they are grown, the virgin queens fight to the death to become the queen of the new colony. From egg to adult, development of queen bees takes 15-16 days.
Figure 7b
The Drone Bee
Drones are the male honey bees. They are the largest, and there are relatively few of them. Also, they are only part of the colony during the spring and summer, while the queen is mating. They have no stinger, pollen baskets or wax glands, as their only function is to fertilize the queen during her mating flight. Due to their large size, drones eat much more food, and are forced out of the colony when the weather gets cold. As a result, they live for about 8 weeks. From egg to adult, drones take 24 days to develop.
Drones are the male honey bees. They are the largest, and there are relatively few of them. Also, they are only part of the colony during the spring and summer, while the queen is mating. They have no stinger, pollen baskets or wax glands, as their only function is to fertilize the queen during her mating flight. Due to their large size, drones eat much more food, and are forced out of the colony when the weather gets cold. As a result, they live for about 8 weeks. From egg to adult, drones take 24 days to develop.
The Worker Bee
Worker bees are the smallest of the three castes and make up most of the colony. They are sexually undeveloped females with specialized anatomy for the work they do. Their stinger is short and barbed, and can get stuck in tough skin and ripped out, killing the bee. In the colony, they do almost everything. Young workers, called house bees, clean the colony, feed the brood, care for the queen, build the combs, handle nectar, act as guards, and regulate the temperature of the hive. Older workers are called field bees, and they forage for nectar, water and pollen. These bees perform a special "waggle dance" to communicate directions to food sources for other workers. They can live anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months, and in a queenless colony, can even begin to lay eggs. Worker bees take 21 days to develop from egg to adult. |