Wikijunior:Bugs/Bee
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[edit] What does it look like?
Bees are flying insects with two pairs of transparent wings. Many common species have colored stripes on their abdomen. For a lay man bees means Honey bees that live in colonies and is a source of honey. Honey bees have a hairy body. In honey bees each pair of legs is specialized for specific purposes like cleaning antennae, accumulating and carrying pollen, and picking wax secreted by their own body.The mouth parts are suited for Chewing solid food like pollen and for lapping up liquids like nectar.
For a naturalist bees are just not Honey bees, there are other families of bees that differ from honey bees in look, feeding and nesting habits. These are bumble bees, Cellophane bees, Cocoo Bees, Mining Bees, Sweat bees, Leaf cutter bees, Mason bees , Digger bees,Carpenter bees etc. These are common in our surroundings but are less conspicuous. This is because many of them are solitary or live in less organised small communities, unlike the highly social honey bees that live in large colonies.
All bees, wasps, hornets and ants belong to a common insect order Hymenoptera. All these insects have transparent wings and share a similar anatomy.
[edit] Where does it live?
Honeybees are social insects and large colonies of Honeybees live in hives made of wax and some plant exudates (propolis). Honey bees secrete wax from glands in their abdomen.
Other bee species are either social living in small communities or are solitary. They make their own nests using wax, propolis, plant parts, mud etc. The nests are built in the open on trees and shrubs, in holes boring holes into wood,in under ground tunnels, in abandoned rat holes,in cracks and crevices in buildings etc. Bees make their hives or nests in the open as well as in dark places. Nesting habit differ with species.
[edit] What does it eat?
Most bees take nectar and pollen as their primary source of nutrition. Pollen is the major protein source that helps to build body parts and nectar is the major carbohydrate source that provides energy
In honey bees that are social and live in colonies there is a clear caste differentiation into queen, worker and drone. The main food differs for each caste. The queen and the larval stages are fed with a secretion called royal jelly (queen substance) secreted by the worker bees. In honey bees the food changes from royal jelly to pollen and nectar with the different growth stages of the larva. The adult workers feed mostly on nectar and pollen. drones are fed with royal jelly, nectar and pollen. Honey bees convert nectar into honey and store it for using in dearth periods like winter when nectar and pollen are not available.
[edit] How does it defend itself?
Female honey bees have stingers that are modified parts of the female reproductive system. Bees sting when they feel threatened. It is worker bees that sting while defending the colony. Stingers are in the last segment of the abdomen. In many species the act of stinging is fatal to the bee. The last segment of the bee's body carries the venom gland and gets ripped off from the abdomen of the bee while stinging and the bee dies due to the injury. The detached stinger is left on the body of the victim. If the sting is not immediately removed from the victim's body more venom is pumped into the body by the pulsating venom glands. Worker bees have tiny barbs in the stinger similar to that of a harpoon head. It is due to these barbs the sting rips off from bee and gets lodged on victim's body.
The sting left on the victim’s body, gives off a alarm signal by release of a chemical called pheromones. This attracts other bees in the colony to sting the victim. So a person is stung by a bee, the sting must be removed immediately to avoid further stings from other bees which are attracted by the pheromone signal. Immediate removal of the sting also reduces the amount of bee venom injected into the body and the pain and swelling arising out of the sting. Bee stings are painful and will lead to swelling around the stung area and some species are highly venomous and stings can be life threatening. For some people, even the sting from bee species that are not very venomous could cause allergic reactions that can lead to death or intense pain if not treated immediately.
Some species, like killer bees, are highly irritable and have a bad reputation of attacking passers by even if there was no attempt to irritate the colony. These bees are present in both of the American continents. It is a good idea not to go near a bee colony unless one is has a good knowledge of handling bees and can identify the species that is in the colony. Often it is difficult to differentiate between the killer bee species and the domesticated bee species in the wild. Bee stings become fatal if the number of stings that the victim has suffered are too high or if the species is highly venomous.
A few bee species which do not have stingers bite using the mandibles ( mandibles are mouth parts of the insect that are using for cutting and chewing).
[edit] What stages of metamorphosis does it go through?
Bees are advanced insects that have all the four stages of metamorphosis. A Bee life cycle includes egg, larva, pupa and adult stages.
In most bees species the eggs hatch by the third day after laying or within a few days. During the larval stage growth rate is high and hence larvae are voracious . Bees exhibit parental care and adult bees take care of the larvae by feeding them. Larval stage extends from a week to a fort night after which larvae enter the dormant pupal stage. Pupal stage lasts for a period ranging from a week to a couple of weeks. Larvae and Pupae are housed in special cells prepared by adult bees made of wax, propolis or plant parts. Larvae do not forage on their own and requires parental care to survive.
In few primitive species of bees the adults stuff the cells with reserve food and lay the egg in the cells. The emerging larvae feeds on the stored food till it enters pupal stage. This behaviour is similar to those of wasps.
[edit] What special behavior does it exhibit?
Most bee species exhibit parental care and the parents feed and bring up the larvae to pupal stage.Parental care is more significant in those species which live in highly organised societies like Honey bees.
Each Honey bee colony has different castes of bees which are different morphologically. Each Honey bee colony has a queen . The queen is the only female that can lay fertilized eggs that will hatch to larvae capable of developing into queen or worker. Queens are generally larger in size compared to other castes in the colony.
There are a few drones in the honey bee colony which are male bees which have only reproductive function. Drones mate with newly emerged queens. After mating the Drones die.
The majority of bees in a honey bee colony are worker bees which are females which cannot lay eggs in the presence of the queen. The workers forage for pollen and nectar, feed the queen, drones and larvae, clean the hives, process and convert nectar into honey and build, maintain and defend the hive.
A major activity of worker bees in a honeybee colony is preparation of honey which serves as a reserve food during dearth period of nectar, especially during winter. The worker bees lap up nectar (which is water like in consistency) from flowers and other plant parts and store in their stomach till they return to their hives. In the bee’s stomach water is removed from the nectar to concentrate and thicken the nectar. Some digestive juices also mix with the nectar in the bee’s stomach. Once the bee returns to the hive the concentrated nectar is regurgitated from stomach through the mouth into special honey storing cells. Further processing is done by evaporating the water in the nectar stored in the cells by synchronized beating of wings of bees to create an air flow in the hive. This is called fanning. When nectar in the cells reaches the required thickness it is called honey and the cells are sealed by the bees.
Honey bees also collect and store pollen in special cells for reserve food.
Bees like most insects communicate using chemical signals called pheromones. In addition to this Honeybees communicate by special pattern of movement inside the hive. This called bee dance. The communication by bee dance is symbolic and generally conveys the direction and distance of a food source from the hive.
[edit] How does this bug affect people?
Honey is taken from honey bee colonies in the wild and from colonies that are reared in apiaries (bee farms). In addition to honey pollen, bee's wax, propolis and royal jelly are major apiary products.
Bees are very important pollinators and improve productivity in crops. Many species are reared by farmers to enhance crop productivity by proper pollination.
As noted before bee stings can be extremely painful and can lead to health problems if they are not treated correctly.
Some species of leaf cutter bees and wood borer bees are household or garden pests that eat plant parts like leaves and flowers, or bore into wooden articles in the house hold.
