Apiculture

Head

• Head Bears a pair of geniculate antennae
• Two compound eyes on lateral side of head. Bees can distinguish different colours but are red blind and can perceive ultraviolet rays
• Head bears 3 ocelli (simple eyes) on top portion which perceive degree of light
• Two mandibles are attached to ventro-lateral part of head capsule. Mandibles differ in shape in three castes (Fig. 3.2). Workers use mandibles for grasping and scrapping pollen from anthers, feeding of pollen and in manipulation of wax scales during comb building
• Mouth parts of worker bees are modified for sucking and lapping (Fig. 3.3). Tongue or proboscis (formed by medium labium and two lateral maxillae) is used for ingesting liquids. Labium has long median glossa and spoon shaped lobe (flabellum) at the end
• Inside the head there are long coiled strings of small lobes known as hypopharyngeal glands which secrete glandular food known as royal jelly that is fed to queen and young larvae.