Читать книгу Honey Bee Medicine for the Veterinary Practitioner - Группа авторов - Страница 61

Like all insects, honey bees have three pairs of legs (front, middle, and back), all attached to the thorax (left and right). There are six segments per leg, thus six joints, including that which attaches the leg to the thorax (Figure 3.2). Each joint is restricted to motion in only one plane, but this constraint is overcome as each of the six joints in the leg move in different planes, thus enabling considerable dexterity and agility (Snodgrass et al. 2015). Each leg segment is named as shown in Figure 3.2, so the honey bee has six femurs, six tibias, etc.

In addition to locomotion, the honey bee uses her legs to carry pollen back to the hive. Specialized “pollen baskets” called corbiculae are found on the modified tibia of each hind leg. The bee uses her front and middle legs, as well as specialized brushes and combs on her hind legs, to remove pollen collected on hairs covering her body. She packs the pollen into her corbiculae for transport back to the hive. These so‐called “pollen pants” can be seen on bees returning to the hive; they are an important observation when monitoring hive activity. Bees also carry propolis (a resinous mixture of bee saliva, wax, and botanical material) in their corbiculae (Snodgrass et al. 2015) (Figures 3.7 and 3.8).

The honey bee's antennae are critical information‐gathering organs, so they require regular cleaning and maintenance. The bee's front legs each possess an antenna‐cleaning notch that is lined by a tiny comb‐like structure (Figure 3.5). The bee scrapes the ipsilateral antenna free of pollen and other debris using this tool (Figure 3.9).

Figure 3.7 (a, b) Magnified view of the corbicula (pollen basket) on the lateral side of the hind leg (yellow arrow). The honey bee uses her front and middle legs to place pollen on the bristles (pollen brush) of the medial side of the leg. Then, using the pollen rake and pollen press on the opposite leg, she packs the pollen into the corbicula (Snodgrass et al. 2015).

Source: Photo courtesy of Cynthia Faux.

Figure 3.8 Honey bee foraging on prairie spiderwort Tradescantia occidentalis with pollen loaded into her corbiculae.

Source: Photo courtesy of Zachary Y. Huang.

Figure 3.9 Antenna cleaner.

Source: Photo courtesy of Jamie Perkins.