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Wings

Fore wing (upper) and hind wing (lower) of honey bee worker. Venation terminology based on Michener (2000) The bees of the world,
, Baltimore, (2000)
[1]. (scale bar = 1 mm)

Comb building

Honey bee workers start to build the comb from the top wall of the nest cavity. The series of lines indicate amount of comb build during consecutive 24 hours periods. After Darchen (1968, fig. 100) Le travail de la cire et la construction dans la ruche,
Traité de biologie de l'abeille
, Paris, p.241-331, (1968)
[2] (scale bar = 1 cm)

Comb building occurs also during night Busy bees need rest, too,
Journal of Comparative physiology A
, Volume 163, Number 5, p.565–584, (1988)
[3]. Workers building combs have relatively high body temperature Busy bees need rest, too,
Journal of Comparative physiology A
, Volume 163, Number 5, p.565–584, (1988)
[3].

Sting

Side view of sting of honey bee worker. After Snodgrass (1910, fig. 36) The anatomy of the honey bee,
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Entomology, Technical Series
, Volume 18, Washington, DC, p.1-162, (1910)
[4]. (scale bar = 0.5 mm)
See also sting animation.
blb - bulb of stylet
Lct - lancet
Ob - oblong plate
Qd - quadrate plate
Sh - sheath lobe
Stl - stylet
Tri - triangular plat

Geometric representation of a cell

Geometric representation of a cell from the honey bee comb. The cell is similar to short and blunt pencil, sharpened with three cuts in such a way, that the angle at the tip of the pencil is obtuse.
See also The silent hexagon: explaining comb structures,
Synthese
, (2016)
[5]

Geometric representation of the comb

Geometric representation of the honey bee comb. Real comb is less regular and the angles are rounded to some degree.
Thickness of the walls is 0.217±0.046 (mean±SD) mm Acoustic Analysis of Honeybee Hive,
, Hyderabad, p.55, (2014)
[6]. At the opening the walls are thicker 0.486±0.087 (mean±SD) mm Acoustic Analysis of Honeybee Hive,
, Hyderabad, p.55, (2014)
[6].
See also The cell bases of honeybee combs,
Apidologie
, Volume 38, Number 3, p.268–271, (2007)
[7]

Worker

Worker of honey bee.


Honey bee workers cannot mate, but they can lay unfertilized eggs, which develop into males if reared.

Larva in cell

Larva of honey bee worker during cell capping. After Nelson (1924, Plate 1E) Morphology of the honeybee larva,
Journal of Agricultural Research
, Volume 28, p.1167-1213, (1924)
[8]. (scale bar = 1 mm)

Larva

Larva of honey bee worker. (scale bar = 1 mm)

Pupa

Pupa of honey bee worker in a capped cell. (scale bar = 1 mm)

Egg in cell

Queen-laid eggs are positioned at the bottom of the cell. Immediately after oviposition the egg is almost perpendicular to the cell wall. It is sometimes suggested that the egg sags gradually during its development until it rests on the bottom of the cell The biology of the honey bee,
, Cambridge, (1987)
[9]. However, some eggs do not change position before hatching Research on the honey bee egg,
Gleanings in Bee Culture
, Volume 88, Issue 2, Number 2, p.104-111, (1960)
[10]. In absence of workers position of the egg is independent of its age and its sagging is caused by workers pushing the egg with head during incubation The cause of inclining of honeybee eggs in comb cells,
XXXI International Apicultural Congress
, Warsaw, p.181, (1987)
[11]. (scale bar = 1 mm)