What are Honey Bees

Honey bees have wings that are arranged in two pairs, which are connected to the back wings by a row of hooks. The forewings are much larger than the back wings, and both help the bee achieve flight. Honey bees can fly up to 15 mph, through strong muscles that are located on the thorax (midsection of the body). Honey bees are able to travel up to three miles away from the hive, which gives them a large range to locate pollen.

The body of the honey bee is broken up into three main sections: the head, thorax, and abdomen. The eyes and antenna are the important parts of the head. The honey bee’s wings and six legs are located on the thorax, while the reproductive organs, wax glands, and stinger are found in the abdomen.

A honey bee’s pollen basket is located the bees' hind legs and consists of hairs surrounding a bowl-shaped region. When a bee visits a flower, it will groom itself and brush pollen that sticks to its body back toward its hind legs. The pollen gets mixed with nectar to hold it together and gets packed into the pollen basket.

The honey bee’s strong jaws are called mandibles, and they protect the proboscis and other organs. The proboscis is another name for the bee’s tongue. It is used to reach the center of the flower to collect nectar and is also used to groom each other.

Honey bees have two sets of eyes: compound and simple eyes. The compound eyes are the honey bee’s larger eyes and provided polarized vision. These eyes take separate images and piece them together into one single image. The simple eyes see in UV lights and can help locate the pollen and food sources.

Honey bees have two jointed antennae which function as a bee’s sense of touch, smell, taste, and hearing. Bees also use their antenna to communicate, through touch. Scientists have observed that honey bees favor using their right antenna solely for communication.