Page 54 - The Miracle of the Honeybee

52 THE MIRACLE OF THE HONEYBEE

in its stomach to meet its own energy needs,
then flies off again at once to the food
source. Any bee to which the nectar has
been transferred either gives it to still
other bees or else stores it away, depend-
ing on the food needs of the hive on the
day in question. 35

Other Duties
After having become adults and beginning to
forage, bees can undertake all jobs. Their three-
Mandible week life span is sufficient for this.
We have already mentioned that changes
Maxilla take place in the bee’s body throughout her
Labium development, and how jobs in the hive
Proboscis Flabellum change in direct proportion to bodily
changes that take place at different
times in the bee’s body. But these
changes are not irreversible. A bee’s
organs can regain their previous
functions if the needs of the hive re-
quire it. For example, when the hive

The worker proboscis can very in
length from 5.3 to 7.2 millimeters
(0.2087 to 0.2835 inches), depending
on the race. The nectar of some flow-
ers lies deeper down than in others.
It’s thus a major advantage for bees
to possess a long proboscis ideally
suited to extracting nectar from the
base of such flowers.
The pictures at top left show the
bee’s proboscis in extended and
folded positions. As can be seen
below, bees fold their proboscis in-
wards in a Z-shaped pattern when
not in use.