Honeybees, known as Apis mellifera and considered environmentally friendly, play a crucial role in the pollination of plants. Honeybees are closely related to ants, and both groups evolved from a common ancestor shared with wasps. Throughout their evolution, honeybees have developed unique anatomical and morphological features that distinguish them from other insect species. For example, the formation of pollen baskets for collecting pollen, as well as their adaptation to feeding on nectar and pollen, are among the most typical of these developments.

Bees are the only insect species that produce food consumed by humans. Additionally, honeybees can flap their wings up to 200 times per second, which is what creates their distinctive “buzzing” sound. A honeybee can fly up to 10 kilometers nonstop in this way, reaching a flight speed of approximately 20 kilometers per hour.

HEAD:

When viewed from the front, a bee’s head resembles a triangle. The head contains the eyes, antennae, and mouthparts. In bees, the antennae are structures that enable the senses of smell, taste, touch, and perception. They are found in pairs and are capable of moving in all directions with the help of strong muscles. Thanks to the nerve endings within the antennae, bees can sense wind speed and air temperature in addition to other senses. The antennae of bees are so sensitive that they can detect the smell of honey from as far as 2 kilometers away.

The mouth structure of bees consists of four parts: the upper lip, upper jaw, lower jaw, and lower lip. They have a lapping-sucking type of mouth. The lower jaws have a cutting function, and the lower jaw and lower lip form the proboscis. This structure resembles a tube, and its extended tongue allows bees to consume liquid food. The tongue, covered with hairs, is made of interlocking rings, allowing it to extend and retract as needed. Once feeding is complete, the proboscis curls up and folds to the back of the head, making the tongue appear relatively short. Worker bees use their upper jaws for tasks like gathering pollen, handling wax for comb building, and gripping objects. The proboscis in bees is used for obtaining liquid food such as nectar, honey, syrup, or water. The head also serves as the region where important secretions are produced. In worker bees, the hypopharyngeal glands secrete royal jelly at a young age and enzymes that break down sucrose in honey at a later stage. The mandibular glands produce the queen pheromone in the queen bee and the alarm pheromone in worker bees.

THORAX:

The thoracic movement in bees consists of four segments. The first segment of the abdomen is fused with the last segment of the thorax. There are three pairs of legs and two pairs of wings, with one pair of legs attached to each of the three thoracic segments. For this reason, the thorax is the bee’s center of movement. Beyond enabling movement, the legs serve other purposes as well. Honeybees use the front pair of legs for cleaning their head and antennae. The middle legs provide support and grip, and also help transfer pollen from the front to the back legs, filling the pollen baskets. Due to the stiff hairs on them, these legs are also called “brushes.” The pollen basket located on the back legs enables bees to carry pollen to the hive.

Honeybees have two pairs of wings. The wings are made of two very thin membranes supported by chitinized veins. The forewings, along with the hindwings, facilitate flight and directional control. Using their wings, bees can hover in place, change their flight direction, and make turns in various directions.

ABDOMEN:

The abdomen of bees contains internal organs such as the stomach, intestines, and reproductive organs, as well as wax glands and a stinger. Worker bees, during the wax-producing phase of their lives, develop thickened wax glands that allow them to secrete wax. Wax scales are carried to the mouth with the help of the legs, softened in the mouth, and used in the construction of honeycomb cells. Once worker bees complete their wax-secreting phase, their wax glands degenerate into a single layer of cells.

Both worker bees and the queen bee have a stinger at the end of the abdomen. The stinger is a sharp, pointed defensive organ that extends from the stinger chamber. The stinger of a worker bee has barbs facing backward; thus, when a worker bee stings, it cannot retract the stinger. These barbs are saw-like projections oriented opposite to the direction of entry. Therefore, bees do not sting humans unless they feel their own life is in danger.

MEMBERS OF THE BEE COLONY:

Honeybees are social insects that live in communities called colonies. A bee colony consists of a queen bee, worker bees, and drones. The queen bee and worker bees are female individuals and develop from fertilized eggs, while drones develop from unfertilized eggs. Since honeybees act on instinct, they exhibit similar behaviors under the same environmental conditions. In bee colonies, female individuals are generally present during winter. Drones begin to appear in the spring.

QUEEN BEE:

Under normal circumstances, each bee colony has only one queen bee. Queen bees develop from fertilized eggs.

Functions of the Queen Bee:

• Ensuring the production of new generations by laying eggs.

• Managing and directing colony members through the pheromones she releases.

• Preparing the colony for the honey season.

• Encouraging worker bees to gather pollen.

• Fulfilling the colony’s need for water, among other tasks.

The queen bee’s body structure is slim and long, and her color is lighter, more vibrant, and shinier compared to other bees. Her body is wider than a worker bee’s and longer than a drone’s. Her wings are longer than those of a worker bee, but relative to her body size, they are short, limiting her flying ability. Particularly during high brood-rearing periods, her abdomen is very elongated. After mating, her flight capability decreases due to the increase in body size. The queen bee is usually seen surrounded by a group of worker bees who handle her grooming and feeding. Throughout her life, she only leaves the hive to mate and cannot feed herself.

Queen Bee’s Feeding:

Worker bees feed the queen bee by giving her royal jelly directly into her mouth. The queen bee has a longer stinger than worker bees, with fewer barbs, allowing her to use it multiple times by inserting and retracting it. Her venom glands are well-developed, and she uses her stinger against rival queens and queen cells within the hive. The queen bee develops in a special cell called a queen cell or queen cup. Her pheromones attract drones, who follow her. The queen bee mates with 8-10 drones during a flight in the open air. If she does not mate with enough drones, she may take additional mating flights over the next 2-3 days. Once mating is complete, the queen bee returns to the hive and begins laying eggs after 2-3 days. She can lay an average of 1,500-2,000 eggs per day, and in optimal conditions, up to 2,000-3,000 eggs.

The pheromones secreted by the queen bee are spread to all colony members through contact and food sharing. In a colony left queenless with no ability to raise a new queen, the ovaries of some worker bees develop, resulting in the formation of “laying workers” who lay unfertilized eggs. The average lifespan of queen bees is 3-5 years.

WORKER BEES:

Worker bees develop from fertilized eggs. The number of worker bees in a colony varies based on the strength of the colony and the season. In winter, the colony usually has between 10,000 and 15,000 worker bees, and this number decreases further in early spring. As spring progresses, the population gradually increases, reaching 60,000-80,000 worker bees in summer, depending on various factors. The strength of a colony is dependent on the number of worker bees it has. Under normal circumstances, all tasks in the colony, except egg-laying, are performed by worker bees.

Tasks worker bees are responsible for in the colony include:

• Cleaning the hive,

• Secreting wax and building honeycombs,

• Producing royal jelly and caring for the brood,

• Ventilating the hive,

• Caring for and feeding the queen bee,

• Guarding the hive,

• Collecting nectar, pollen, propolis, and water for the hive,

• Ripening the honey.

Worker bees born in spring and early summer live 35-40 days due to the intense workload and wear, while those born in late summer and early fall live longer. The duties of worker bees begin immediately after they emerge from their brood cells.

DRONES:

Drones, the largest individuals in the colony, develop from unfertilized eggs. Depending on environmental conditions and the strength of the colony, drones can be seen starting from April or May, appearing most commonly during swarming season. Drones have a plump body and a very short tongue, which prevents them from collecting nectar from flowers. They lack stingers, so they cannot defend themselves. Colonies begin raising drones in spring and early summer. In late fall and winter, drones are absent from the colonies. Drones, which are quite lazy and voracious, have the primary role of mating with virgin queens during mating flights. A drone catches a virgin queen in flight and mates with her. After mating, the drone loses its reproductive organ and dies. The average lifespan of a drone is 55-60 days. Worker bees regulate the number of drones in the hive by expelling adult drones or destroying some drone eggs, larvae, and occasionally pupae. Only about 50-56% of drone eggs develop into mature drones. Drones may fly for purposes such as familiarizing themselves with the surroundings, defecation, or mating.

BEE DANCE

Honeybees are social creatures that live in colonies, working collectively and in communication with one another. There is a division of labor within colonies; as worker bees age, they initially handle tasks inside the hive, then eventually take on the role of “foragers” bringing resources like water, nectar, and pollen back to the hive. When a forager bee discovers a good resource, it returns to the hive to inform the other bees, using what is known as the bee dance to communicate.

Round Dance

The bee dance is generally divided into two types. The first type, shown in the photo below, is the round dance, which is used to indicate resources that are very close by. When a forager bee finds a resource 50-100 meters away from the hive, it performs quick circular movements, moving clockwise and counterclockwise in a looping pattern, to signal to other bees that there is a nearby resource. This form of communication conveys information about distance but does not specify direction or location. To compensate for this, bees use their highly developed sense of smell. By closely examining the scent of flowers on the dancing bee, other bees can more quickly find their way by following this scent when they leave the hive.

Waggle Dance

The second type of bee dance is much more complex. This dance, known as the waggle dance, is used to communicate information about resources that are farther away. A schematic representation is shown below.

Inside the hive, on vertically hanging combs, the “knowledgeable” bee positions itself and begins the waggle dance. First, it shakes the rear part of its body side to side while running quickly in a straight line. Then it makes a sharp turn to the right or left, stops waggling, and traces a half-circle arc back to its starting point. Upon reaching the starting point, it repeats the straight line waggle, but this time turns in the opposite direction to trace the other half-circle, returning to the beginning. The “knowledgeable” bee repeats this dance multiple times, thereby communicating its information to the surrounding bees.

Two types of information are conveyed here: direction and distance. As mentioned, the combs in the hive are oriented vertically with respect to gravity. The bees use this vertical orientation to represent the sun’s position.

If a forager bee performs the dance in the direction exactly opposite to gravity (upward), it indicates that the other bees should fly toward the sun to reach the resource. The information on distance is conveyed by the duration of the straight-line part (the waggling section) of the dance. Roughly, one second of waggling indicates a resource about 1,000 meters away.

This blog post has been verified by Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Halil İbrahim KILIÇ .

SOURCES

Cengiz, Mahir. (2019). BAL ARISI (Apis mellifera L.) ANATOMİSİ, GENETİK VE ISLAHI İLE ANA ARI YETİŞTİRİCİLİĞİ.(2023)

Ç. M. Bakırcı. Arılar ve Bal İle İlgili Gerçekler. (23 Eylül 2013). Alındığı Tarih: 21 Aralık 2023.Alındığı Yer: https://evrimagaci.org/s/1417

Isparta İl Tarım ve Orman Müdürlüğü

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M. A. Döke, et al. Arıların Dansı ve Arılarda Demokrasi: Arılar Neden Dans Eder ve Arı Demokrasisinden Neler Öğrenebiliriz?. (25 Mart 2015). Alındığı Tarih: 21 Aralık 2023. Alındığı Yer: https://evrimagaci.org/s/3435