To study morphological structures of honey bee

through permanent slides/photographs

Wings and Sting apparatus

Wings
A worker honeybee A. mellifera has two pairs of wings, each pair of which
includes a forewing and a hind wing fused with mesothorax

WINGS
 The anterior wings are larger than the posterior pair
 The wing is a thin, elastic plate, with the veins, which are hardened pieces of hollow tubes
 Veins are mechanical support of a wing
 There are different longitudinal veins, partially branching, and longitudinal cross-linking to
each other
 Between the veins the thin transparent membranes are stretched.
 Pattern of longitudinal and transverse veins is called venation
Honey bee forewing structure and name of the wing cells and the
main veins on the forewing
Wing veins and cells
The wing veins and the cells they define are important tools for bee identification

 Costal vein, forming a thickened leading edge of the wing, goes from the shoulder blade, does not
branch
 Subcostal vein is near the costal, in the middle of the wing merges with it. It also does not branch
 Medial, or median, vein, short, divided into two branches – the basement, connecting with
subcostal, and discoidal
 Cubital vein starts from the middle vein and stretches along the wing almost to the end
 Radial vein is associated with cubital and three inter-cubital veins
 Anal vein runs parallel to the first medial and then diverges from it. Between them there is a short
neural streak

(The rear wing has a similar structure, but it is much smaller than the front. In addition, the drones
have additional rear wing venation)
The wing veins and the cells they define are important tools for bee identification

• Usually, you can narrow a bee down to the genus level by studying the wings
• Only need to recognize the forewing & the marginal cell

The marginal cell of the honey bee wing is long The rough margins and irregular shape of a
and sausage-shaped. bumble bee marginal cell.
Hamuli (hook structure) connect the front and rear wings so they beat together
when the bee is flying

Fore wing and hind wing held together with comb-like

teeth called hamuli
Act as one large surface and help the bee create
greater lift when flying.
Beats 230 times per second
 The hooks in the rear wings are directed upwards

 During the movement the front wing with a crease, located on the rear edge, slides on the rear
wing and hooks cling to it. This ensures a strong bond of the rear and the front pair

 Worker bee has on the rear wing from 15 to 27 hooks, the queen – from 13 to 23, a drone –
from 13 to 29.

(a) A pair of coupled-wing. Dashed lines illustrate the parts of the hindwing beneath the forewing
Hook structure (HS) and the membrane-rolling structure (MRS)

 HS of the hind wing and the MRS of the forewing, both of which firmly connect the forewing and
hind wing
 Each hook is composed of two ‘spars’, which constitute a V-shape joint. One spar is embedded in
the leading edge of the hind wing and the other is hooked to the trailing edge of the forewing
Important characteristics of wings other
than flying
A pair of forewings that are larger than the Coordinated fanning ventilates & distributes
hindwings pheromones

Wings carry nerves, hemolymph and breathing Tattered wing margins indicate = end of her
tubes lifespan
Stinging Apparatus
The last abdominal segment of the honeybee
holds a cavity called the sting chamber

It is inside this cavity that the sting apparatus

is present

The sting apparatus consists of the protractor

and retractor muscles, the bulb, the stinger,
and the venom sac
STING APPARATUS
STING APPARATUS ANATOMY
 The sting is made of 3 pairs of gonapophyses, one pair of segment 8, and two pairs of segment 9.
 The gonapophyses of segment 8 form two stylets lying parallel and enclosing a poison-canal.
 One pair of gonapophyses of segment 9 fuse together to form a single stylet sheath, the other pair
form two stylet palps

 The sting or terebra consists of two stylets articulated along their length to the hollow stylet sheath
by a groove and rail arrangement

 The stylets and their sheath bear barbs at the tips to make a wound; proximally the stylet sheaths
have a dilated bulb, then they form arms which are associated with 3 pairs of plates bearing
muscles.

 Attached to the stylets proximally is a median poison sac into which open two acid glands and one
alkaline gland.
 Generally the poison glands, sting and part of the intestine are pulled out in stinging and the bee
dies within two days.
 Queen Bee & Worker Bee Sting Apparatus

The queen honey bee usually has a smooth stinger and can sting multiple times,
whereas, the worker bee dies form injury after stinging
(A) The needle-like sting, venom sac, and related glands. The Scanning electron microscopy of honey bee stings.
stinger is activated by the muscles to penetrate the skin of the
victim.
The microstructures of honey bee stings were
observed using a scanning electron microscope.
(B) Barbs along the axial direction of the sting. The stinger has
(A,B) Top, (C,D) lateral
two rows of barbs, each of which comprises about 10 barbs.
(C) Magnified view of the barbs.
(D) Magnified view of two rows of barbs.
Time-series graphs of a honey bee inserting PDMS bulk using its sting. Slow motion analysis of a
honey bee piercing a PDMS bulk was performed by using a high-speed video camera. The angles given
indicate the penetration angle (θ) of the sting.
 Which poison is present in honey bee

Apitoxin is produced by female worker bees and is known to contain many active components including: (i) peptides like melittin,
apamin, mast cell degranulating (MCD) peptide, and adolapin, (ii) enzymes, such as phospholipase A2 (PLA2) and hyaluronidase, and
(iii) amino acids and volatile compounds.

Mellitin, a 26 amino acid peptide, makes up 50% of the dry weight of bee venom, and acts to destroy blood cells by breaking up their
membranes. It also lowers blood pressure, causes histamine release, and is the main pain-causing component.
BEE STING: Symptoms
Mild reaction
Most of the time, bee sting
symptoms are minor and include:
 Instant, sharp burning pain at the
sting site
 A red welt at the sting area
 Slight swelling around the sting area
Severe allergic reaction
Skin reactions, including hives and itching
and flushed or pale skin
Difficulty breathing
Swelling of the throat and tongue
A weak, rapid pulse
Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea
Dizziness or fainting
Loss of consciousness