Honey Bees are insects which live and work together in beehive colonies hence they are considered social insects.

Honey bees, while collecting nectar from flowers, help in pollination. They are major pollinators and play a crucial role in agriculture. If honey bees disappear from the face of the earth, it would negatively affect plant reproduction, especially crops and drastically impact natural systems and food webs, which result in the extinction of mankind within four years.

Honey bees produce honey, which is a very good nutrient source

In a honeybee colony, based on size, there are three distinct morphological forms – 

1. Worker honeybee: They are unfertile females and smaller in size. They do all the work in the hive, including feeding, collecting pollen and nectar and making wax. 
2. Drone honeybee: They are fertile male honey bees larger than worker honey bees but smaller than the Queen honeybee. Wax glands are absent in their abdomen.
3. Queen honeybee: They are fertile female honey bees largest in size.
   
   

External features of Honeybee

The honeybee’s body has a chitinous hard outer shell called an exoskeleton; their external structure is divided into three distinct parts.

Head: Head is slightly triangular. It bears a pair of compound eyes dorsolaterally placed and three small ocelli between the compound eyes. The compound eye comprises ommatidia, responsible for light detection, whereas the ocelli are responsible for motion detection. In drone honey bees, eyes are the largest compared to the worker and queen honeybee. A pair of antennae are present on the head and responsible for detecting airborne scents and currents. Mouth parts are situated ventrally and consist of the mandible and proboscis. Mandibles are vital mouth parts and help in the protection of the proboscis. The proboscis is a tube-like mouth part and helps in sucking up fluids.

Thorax: Prothorax, mesothorax and metathorax are the three thorax segments. Each segment has one pair of jointed legs on the ventral side. Mesothorax and metathorax have two pairs of membranous wings on the dorsal side.

Abdomen: It is the last part of the body and is segmented. Worker, Drone and Queen honeybee can be distinguished by the size and shape of their abdomen.

Abdomen features in the worker honeybee: Four abdominal segments in the posterior region bear wax glands ventrally. A pollen-collecting basket is present on its hind limbs. Worker honeybees have a stinger located in the last segment of the abdomen.

Abdomen features in the drone honey bee: Abdomen size is larger than worker but smaller when compared to Queen. Wax glands are absent in their abdomen.

Abdomen features in the Queen honeybee: In Queen, the abdomen is long and tapering with small wings and legs. Wax glands are absent in their abdomen

Honeybee External Structure

Slide 4: External Structure of Honeybee

A common feature in all morphological forms of the honeybees is that their body is divisible distinctly into three segments- Head, Thorax and Abdomen.

Slide 6: External structure of the Head of the honeybee

The Head bears a pair of compound eyes dorsolaterally placed and three small ocelli between the compound eyes. Compound eyes are responsible for light detection, whereas the ocelli are responsible for motion detection. A pair of antennae are present on the head and responsible for detecting airborne scents and currents. Mouth parts are situated ventrally and consist of the mandible and proboscis. Mandibles are vital mouth parts and help in the protection of the proboscis. The proboscis is a tube-like mouth part and helps in sucking up fluids during feeding.

Slide 8: External structure of the Thorax of honeybee

Prothorax, mesothorax and metathorax are the three segments of the thorax. Each segment has one pair of jointed limbs on the ventral side; forelimbs are small and help protect antennae, and middle limbs and hindlimbs are meant for walking and pollen transfer. Mesothorax and metathorax have two pairs of membranous wings on the dorsal side. Forewings are coupled hindwings during flight.

Slides 9 and 10: External structure of the abdomen of honeybee

It is the last part of the body and is segmented. Worker, Drone and Queen honeybee can be distinguished by the size and shape of their abdomen. In worker and queen honeybees, stingers are located at the end of the abdomen. Their functions are defence and predation. Drone bees do not have stingers.

FAQs on External Features (Anatomy) of Honeybee

1. Which morphological form of honeybee involves pollination and making wax?

Worker honeybees do all the work in the hive, including feeding and collecting pollen and nectar. Since pollen is collected from flowers, they play a significant role in pollination. Four abdominal segments in the posterior region bear wax glands ventrally; hence worker honeybees are also involved in making wax.

2. Describe Queen honeybee?

The Queen honeybee is a fertile female and the largest honeybee in the colony, nearly 15-20 mm in size. Each colony has a single queen honey bee. Its abdomen is long and tapering with small wings. Its eyes are small, and the abdominal segments do not bear wax glands. Though the queen honeybee has a stinger, it rarely stings humans.

3. What are pollen baskets with reference to honeybees?

The tibiae of the hindlimbs of the worker honey bee carry special apparatus called the pollen baskets, which enable the honeybee to carry pollen into the hive.

4. Mention the scientific names for common Indian honey bee species?

The common Indian honeybee species include Apis dorsata, Apis indica and Apis florea. Among these Apis florea is the smallest.

5. What is antenna cleaner with reference to honeybees?

Forelimbs contain a circular notch called antenna cleaner with which the honeybees clean their antennae.