Table of Contents
Do bees communicate with their antennae?
Because the inside of a beehive is completely dark, and eyes don’t work without light. Thus bees rely on the sensitive hairs on their antennae to communicate. Bees dance to relay information, so touching another bee with an antenna helps them understand it.
Why do bees rub their antennae?
The bee pulls each antenna through the bristles to clean it of debris such as pollen or dust which might interfere with the many sensory organs within the antenna.
How do bees use their senses?
Honey bees use their antennae to detect odor. According to research by the National Institutes of Health, published in the “Genome Research” journal, honey bees have 170 odor receptors, or chemoreceptors, in their antennae. As well as for finding food, honey bees use their sense of smell to locate other bees.
How do bees transport pollen?
Female honey bees carry pollen in corbiculae, or pollen baskets, located on the bees’ back legs. The corbiculae are made of tightly-woven leg hairs. Wild bees that lack pollen baskets often transport pollen on sticky hairs, called scopal hairs, located on their hind legs.
How do bees communicate?
Honey bees produce various odor cues called pheromones to communicate with one another. Each type of pheromone has a different purpose and conveys a different message. For example, worker bees release a pheromone when they use their stinger. The queen also produces vital pheromones for the hive.
How do bees hear?
Bees, in contrast to people, do not hear with their ears, but they notice the sound with their whole body, especially with their antennas and sensitive body hair. The bees during their wagging dance produce the “sound” of 250 oscillations per second (250Hz).
How are legs of worker bees modified to collect pollen?
Legs: There are three pairs of legs which are densely covered with hairs, which besides walking, help in collecting pollen and are variously modified. Each mesothoracic leg has a pollen brush on the tarsus, the end of the tibia has a spur like a spine for removing pollen from the pollen basket and wax from abdomen.
Do bees cap pollen?
Pollen around the brood nest during the brooding season is not capped. Pollen for storage and later use is topped with honey and capped.
Do bees have long antennae?
Flies will have short, stubby antennae that aren’t always visible, while bees have long, thin antennae.