Social Bees
More than 20,000 bees have been recorded worldwide. Majority of these species use pollen or nectar from flowering plants as their food. With the help of stereoscopic microscopy, these insects were studied carefully. As examined, the anatomy of the bees includes plumose body hairs which they utilize in catching or holding the pollen. They likewise possess scopae or combs, corbiculae or baskets used in carrying the pollen as well as tongue-like mouthparts for sipping of nectars from the flowers as observed in stereoscopic microscopy.
Some bees collect the nectar from the flowers. They then convert it into honey. The conversion takes place in the bee’s crop where sucrose in the nectar goes through enzymatic conversion into glucose and fructose. The honey is stored or combined with pollen and fed to developing larvae. As studied through stereoscopic microscopy, other bees were noted to have abdominal glands which secrete wax, usually used in the construction of the nest site.
It is noteworthy to mention that most bees are solitary or subsocial. Despite this, the family Apidae contains three distinct groups that show eusocial behavior. These species include the stingless bees, bumble bees, and honey bees. Despite their close phylogenetic relationship, entomologists believe that social behavior occur independently within each of these groups.
When examined through stereoscopic microscopy, bumbles bees are big fuzzy bees. They nest in thick tufts of grass and in low underground spaces. Approximately there are 300 species of bumble bees distributed mostly in the temperate zones of the northern hemisphere. The mated queens lie dormant in winter time. In the early spring they begin to come out to build a small nest site consists of a honey pot and also several blood cells. After collecting enough nectar to fill her honey pot, the queen lays eggs. The queen single-handedly raises her brood of daughters. Even when the offspring becomes adult, they remain unmated. They also stay with the queen as the first member of the colony’s worker class. Afterwards, the queen does not perform other task except to lay eggs. As closely scrutinized through stereoscopic microscopy, there seem to be no distinct physical characteristic between the queen and her workers.
Moreover, the colonies of the bumble bee have primitive social structure and seldom contain more than a few hundred workers. Another interesting fact is that caste determination seems to center on food supply as well as the aggressive behavior of the queen. As there is no system for communication among members of hive, the novice bees learn to scavenge for food through a trial and error process. In summertime or in the early fall, the aging queen starts to lose her social dominance. Many workers become more independent. They start to lay unfertilized eggs which will eventually develop into males or drones. The male bumble bee can be viewed well with stereoscopic microscopy. The late emerging females may depart from the nest. They may hunt on their own. Subsequently, they will mate with a drone. The mated females will live in isolation over winter. The following spring, they will come out to be the founding queens of new colonies of bumble bees.
