Honey Bee Worker – Anatomy

The body of the honey bee worker is segmented: stinger, legs, antenna, three segments of thorax and six visible segments of abdomen.The head of the honey bee consists of the eyes, antennae and feeding structures. The eyes helps bees understand color, light and directional information from the sun’s UV rays. The antennas’ help smell and detect odors. The mandible is the bee’s jaw, which is used in eating pollen, cutting and shaping wax, feeding larvae and the queen, cleaning the hive, grooming and fighting.The thorax of the bee consists of the wings, legs and the muscles. The forewing, which is typically larger than the hind wing, is used for flight and as a cooling mechanism, while the latter is used to fan away heat and cool the hive. The abdomen’s six segments include a stinger in both workers and queen and female reproductive organs in the queen.