Seeing Bees

Photographs

By

Dan Winters

"This series of honey bee photographs was made using the field emission scanning electron microscope at the Photo Microscopy Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. These greatly magnified images reveal the structure of these tiny creatures, allowing us to view the complexity of the Honeybee first hand.”

- Dan Winters, Austin, 2023

1) Drone Dorsal View

The drone is the male honey bee. Drones are much larger than the worker bees. There are very few drones in each beehive. The drone's only task is to mate with the queen bee on her nuptial flight. Drones do not have stingers as is common with many male bees, ants and wasps. The drone even requires assistance from the worker bees to eat. Since queen bees live for a period of 1-2 years, drones are commonly ejected from the hive as they, for the most part, serve no purpose in the hive.

2) Queen Bee Face

The face of the queen bee has a unique, almost regal, intensity to it. The queen is much larger than the ubiquitous worker bees who comprise the majority of the hive's population. The queen is created by other bees in the hive through special care and feeding in her larval state. She looks distinctly different than her female worker bee counterparts.

3) Honey Bee Stinger

The barbed stinger is located at the tip of the worker bee’s abdomen. It is connected to a venom sack which is in turn connected to the bee's internal organs. When a bee stings, the stinger punctures the skin of its victim. The barbs allow it to stay attached as the bee moves away from the sting site, removing the venom sack from within her. The process of stinging kills the honeybee.

4) Worker Bee Antenna Surface Detail

The surface of the honey bee's antennae are covered with thousands of tiny barbed receptors. When foraging for pollen and nectar the antennae are used as a sensory tool, enabling the bee to sense smells in the environment. This in turn allows the bee to navigate. The bee also senses taste through the antennae as well as detecting sound.

5) Worker Bee In Flight

The worker bee tirelessly services both the hive and the queen. They take on different roles in the hive. Foraging bees collect nectar and pollen for honey production and nurse bees care for the brood. Guard bees position themselves at the hive entrance and ward off intruders, detecting them with their keen sense of smell.

6) Worker Bee Face With Proboscis Extended

The worker bee is responsible for venturing from the hive to collect nearby pollen and nectar. They make up the largest part of the hive's population. The proboscis is a tongue that is used for gathering nectar and also as a means for the exchange of information with other bees while in the hive.

7) Drone Antenna

This extreme close up of a drone’s antenna shows the small receptors that cover the complex sensing mechanism.

8) Queen Bee, Dorsal View

The queen is the matriarch of the hive. She serves one purpose, to lay eggs around the clock.. A few days after she emerges, she leaves the hive on her nuptial flight. On this flight she will mate with roughly 15 drone bees. She will then return to the hive, likely never to emerge again. The queen lives 1-2 years and will lay 1500 eggs in a day. A queen will lay approximately 800,000 eggs in her lifetime.

Thanks to Dr. Dwight Romanovich at UT Austin for your guidance and wisdom. 

Thanks to Travis Smith for your careful work in preparing the images for this exhibition.

Thanks to Justin Halliburton for fabricating the frames.

Special thanks to Konrad Bouffard for his tireless efforts in putting together this exhibit.