Did you know honey bees travel up to six miles in search of food? On top of that, they successfully forage and return to the hive. It is mind-boggling that these tiny creatures can perform such astonishing feats.
Honey bees use their wings to travel far and wide. But unfortunately, the wings beat 230 times per minute ( according to scientists). So, it is not an easy feat to know how many pairs of wings these bees have.
A pair? Two pairs? Or more than that?
What about other bees?
Without further ado, let us find out.
How Many Pairs Of Wings Do Bees Have?
Bees, including the honey bees, have two pairs of wings. They belong to the order Hymenoptera in class Insecta. And the two pairs of membranous wings are characteristic features of insects that belong to this order.
Where do bees have wings? And how do wings help the bees? Let us dive into the bees sphere to answer all of these queries.
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Bees Have Two Pair Of Membraneous Wings
All bees belong to the order Hymenoptera which also houses ants and wasps. These insects are the most advanced among the whole Arthropoda phylum.
The order Hymenoptera is distinct from others due to:
- Presence of two pairs of membraneous wings
- A constricted waist in most of the species ( barring some wasps)
- An ovipositor modified as a stinger ( barring some wasps)
Thus, bees have two pairs of membranous wings.
In addition, the wings in bees are rather peculiar than those found in other insects. For instance, bees have transparent wings ( we can see through bee’s ailerons).
Wings arise from the thorax. In bees, the thorax is three-segmented. And wings emerge from the second and third segments.
Did You Know?
The insects’ body consists of the head, thorax, and abdomen. The head region has six segments, giving rise to antennae, eyes, and mouth.
Similarly, the thorax consists of three parts. They are pro, meso, and metathorax, respectively.
And finally, the last region in the abdomen typically consists of nine segments.
These pairs of wings, however, act together. A series of small hooks found at the tip of hind wings connect with the forewings. This aids the bee’s flight. Due to this attachment, the wings may instead appear as single pairs when observed by naked eyes.
Another critical distinction between forewings and hindwings lies in size. Again, the forewings are noticeably larger than the hindwings.
Now that we know the bee’s wing’s structure, let us understand its functions.
Why Are Wings Important To Bees?
Wings in bees serve so many functions. Apart from flight, wings help bees collect food, communicate with each other, and even produce honey. Likewise, these are responsible for maintaining the temperature of the hive.
Let us see how wings can aid and assist such diverse functions. Knowing their vital roles in these processes will help us appreciate wings even more.
Wings Are Crucial To Bring Collected Food
Most bees depend on flowering plants to meet their energy demands. So they travel far and wide in search of pollen and nectar. And when they find one bountiful resource, they immediately start to collect this food.
Once the food is collected, these wings help bees fly back to their nest.
Without wings, bees will find it tricky to rear their offspring.
The bee’s speed varies depending upon the task. For example, when a bee leaves its hive to forage, it travels faster than the speed with which it returns. Can you guess why?
It has to do with the amount of food collected by bees. Bees collect resources with the strength of a giant, and as such, they become significantly heavier. With increased body weight, the bees cannot maintain a higher speed.
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Wings Aid In Thermoregulation
In the case of eusocial bees, such as the honeybees, wings perform another crucial role: Thermoregulation.
Although honey bees are cold-blooded animals, they can maintain a constant temperature in their hive. However, it takes a collective effort to do so.
When hive temperature exceeds the normal range, worker bees fan the hive. This action increases air circulation within the nest and helps to bring down the temperature.
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Likewise, bees use their wing muscles to increase the temperature in brood areas during winter. For these, they vibrate wings muscles and generate heat. As a result, the brood, as well as the queen, survive during the difficult period.
Honey Production Depends Upon Wings
Probably the best sweetener in the whole world, honey is bees’ sweet gift to us. To make honey from nectar is, however, a time-consuming and rigorous task.
Bees collect nectar from plants and store it in their honey stomach. Nectar, along with pollen, is then transported back to the hive, where the foragers regurgitate the nectar and pass it from one bee to another.
Bees add various enzymes and alter the chemical composition of nectar. Nectar is primarily rich in water, while honey tends to be more viscous. After reducing water content and chemical alteration, bees store the honey in a comb.
Honey bees use their wings to reduce the water content to the desired level. Generally, honey consists of water between 15 to 20 percent.
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Wings Help Bees Communicate With Each Other
A honey bee lives in a colony with members exceeding fifty thousand during peak summertime. Division of labor exists among members of a settlement. And as such, communication among each other is essential for prompt functioning.
Bees deploy a variety of methods to communicate with each other. One such way is receiving and sending information based on vibrations’ signals. And bees can create vibration by beating their wings.
Antennae and legs then receive the signal. The message thus transmitted may include:
- Feeding larvae.
- Telling a bee to defend against an intruder.
- Even checking food availability in the hive.
Therefore wings are crucial to bees.
But there is a new threat that lurks behind the horizon. And our bees are vulnerable to it.
Varroa Mites Can Damage Bee’s Wings
The honey bees are among the most studied insects, and a lot is known about them. We know quite a bit about their nemesis as well.
Varroa mites are one of the primary culprits that severely hampers bees’ colonies. These mites feed upon bees’ blood for their growth. Developing larvae and pupae are the primary choice of these mites.
These parasites slip into developing pupal cells comb and start feeding on hemolymph (insect blood). While they feed, they transmit a particular virus to the growing pupae: Deformed Wing Virus.
The virus hampers the growth of bees’ wings. As a result, the young bees are plagued with deformed and weak health. As a result, they cannot forage efficiently, and the entire colony is pushed to the brink of extinction.
This problem is prevalent in the whole of the United States. Sadly, countless colonies of managed honey bees have been lost, and beekeepers have been left speechless.
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Final Words On How Many Pair Of Wings Do Bees Have
Bees have two pairs of wings in their thorax regions. The function of wings extends far and wide. They are involved in food collection, thermoregulation, and even communication between bees.
And finally, varroa mite infestation is particularly devastating to bees.
