A stinging bee, her abdomen curved forward for leverage. - Alex Wild Photography - Insect Photography - Insect Pictures

Honey Bees & Beekeeping

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A worker bee on new wax comb.

A stinging bee, her abdomen curved forward for leverage.

Honey bees- but not most other bees- die after stinging because the stinger remains in the skin, attached to some of the bee's vital organs.

A bee's sting apparatus, with associated venom glands, remains in the beekeeper's skin to maximize venom delivery. The stinger also releases a banana-like odor that serves as a marker to other guard bees.

The most feared part of the bee: the stinger, with associated venom sac and accessory glands.

The most serious pest of modern beekeeping is Varroa destructor, an Asian mite that jumped from the eastern hive bee Apis cerana to the western bee Apis mellifera when commercial beekeeping brought the two bee species into contact. The mite causes severe winter losses in heavily infected bee yards. Here, a mite rides on the abdomen of a worker bee.

An adult Varroa mite feeds on the hemolymph of developing bees.

Varroa destructor mite

Varroa destructor mites are among the most damaging pests of the domestic honey bee Apis mellifera. The mites feed on the haemolymph of developing and adult bees, damaging or even killing thm, and they can transmit diseases as well. If left unchecked, a mite infestation can destroy a hive.

A stinging bee, her abdomen curved forward for leverage.

A stinging bee, her abdomen curved forward for leverage.

A stinging bee, her abdomen curved forward for leverage.

Canon EOS 7D |

More details: exif |

Original size: 5112x3400 |

Current: 800x532 |

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Keywords: stinger apis mellifera stings bee sting

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all images and text © Alex Wild 2001-2013

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