Beneficial Insects

1. Course In-Charge
Mr.S.Srinivasnaik
Assistant Professor
Department of Entomology
Lecture No.2
Brief Morphology and bee-biology- Life cycle and caste distinction
in all stages of European and Indian honey bee
ENTO 332 (1+1):Management of Beneficial Insects

3. Kingdom :Animalia
Phylum :Arthropoda
Class :Insecta
Order :Hymenoptera
Family :Apidae

4. MORPHOLOGY OF HONEY BEES - HEAD
The head of honey bee is triangular with two large compound eyes and three
ocelli. The drones head is larger than that of either queen or worker and its
compound eyes are contiguous on the vertex. The number of ommatidia in
an eye are about 4000 in queen, 5,000 in the worker and 8,000 in the drone.
The ocelli are located in a triangular anteriorly on the vertex in the worker
and queen but lower in the face of the drone. Bees recognize objects with
their compound eyes, perceive movement and distinguish color and forms.
They can distinguish only yellow, blue, blue-green and ultraviolet and can not
see black, red or grey colours.

8. MORPHOLOGY OF HONEY BEES-ANTENNAE
The antennae is geniculate with a large scape, a small pedicel and 10 flagellar
sub-segments in the females (queen and worker) and 11 in the males (Drone).
It accommodates various kinds of sense organs, chiefly tactile and olfactory

9. MORPHOLOGY OF HONEY BEES - MOUTH PARTS
The mouth parts are of chewing – lapping type. The mandibles and labrum
are of the same structure as in the chewing insects. However, the labium,
maxillae, and hypopharynx are integrated to form a sucking proboscis,
the labial glossa becoming an elongate hairy extensible sucking organ
which can be rapidly protracted and retracted to reach deep into the
nectaries of tubular flowers. The glossa is curved and inwards forming
central cavity. It has a small spoon shaped flabellum or button at its apex.
The length varies in different castes of honey bees. It is about 6 mm in
workers, 3-5 mm in queen and 4 mm in drones. The labial palpi are long and
four segmented and maxillary palpi are very small. The paraglossa are
represented by two concealed lobes at the base of glossa.

14. MORPHOLOGY OF HONEY BEES-MANDIBLES
The mandibles vary in their size and shape in three castes. In the worker it is
broad at the base and apex and narrowed in the middle and oblique in its
apex; its distal end is concave. The mandibles of the queen is about the same
length as that of the worker but is wider at base and bilobed distally, the outer
surface is clothed more densely with long hairs than in the case of workers. The
mandibles of the drone is smaller than that of either the worker or the queen
and the mandibular hairs are plumose. The mandibles in honey bees are not
mainly concerned with feeding but are put into various other uses. In the worker
bee the mandibles, apart from serving as grasping organ, helps in the ingestion
of pollen grains, in manipulation of wax in comb building, in supporting the
proboscis at its base when extended.

17. The thorax in honey bees, as in other hymenopterous insects, is characterized
by the fusion of the first abdominal segment propodeum with the metathorax.
The two wings in each side are coupled together, during flight, by a row of 25
hooks as hamuli arising from the anterior margin of the hindwings.
MORPHOLOGY OF HONEY BEES-WINGS

19. MORPHOLOGY OF HONEY BEES-LEGS
S.No. Type Leg
modified
Purpose Modifications
1
Antennal
cleaning
Fore legs For cleaning
antennae
Tibia possess a movable spine,
and the first tarsal segment with
a semi circular notch.
2
Wax
picking
type
Middle leg For picking wax
plates
Tibia posses a spine called wax
pick for removing the wax
plates from the ventral side of
the abdomen.
3
Pollen
basket and
brush type
Hind legs For collecting
pollen and
cleaning body
Inner surface of large tibia has a
groove and is used as pollen
basket or corbicula for
temporary storage of pollen.
First tarsal segment enlarged
and possess stiff hairs “pecten”
all over the surface called
pollen brush.

21. MORPHOLOGY OF HONEY BEES-ABDOMEN
The second abdominal segment is greatly constricted at its union with the
propodeum called petiole and the rest of the abdomen is called gaster. The
gaster consists of six exposed segments in the females and seven in the males
and remaining are concealed and considerably modified. The ovipositor is well
developed and is useful for laying eggs in queen and modified as stinging
organ in the worker and drone with stingless.

22. STRUCTURAL ADAPTATIONS
i) Mandibular glands: There is a pair of mandibular glands, one in each side
associated with the mandible. It is large and sac like situated at the base of the
mandible. This gland is supposed to be used for softening the wax

23. STRUCTURAL ADAPTATIONS
ii) Lateral pharyngeal glands: These are paired glands situated in the
anterior - dorsal region of the head in the form of long, coiled chain of follicles.
These glands are well developed in the worker, vestigial in queen and absent in
the drones. They produce the nutritive food material called “royal jelly” or “bee
silk”, which is used for feeding the larvae and also queen and drones. Workers
in the second week of their life produce the royal jelly and these bees are called
“feeder bees”.

24. iii) Wax glands: Four pairs of wax glands are present in the ventral aspect of
abdominal segments 4 to 7. Below these glands, the sterna of these segments
show each a pair of large oval polished areas separated by a median space.
These are called wax plates or wax mirrors. The secretions of the glands is
carried through the cuticle and the wax hardens on the outer surface of the wax
plates. The wax is removed by the hind tarsi.
STRUCTURAL ADAPTATIONS

25. iv) Sting: It is an elaborated and modified ovipositor with poison and serves as
an instrument of defense. The sting consists of a pair of acid glands which meet
into poison sac. The secretions of this gland consist mainly of formic acid which
is the venom of the bee’s sting.
STRUCTURAL ADAPTATIONS

26. v) Scent Glands: These are present in the thin membrane connecting lat two
abdominal terga. The odour produced from these glands are derived from
scented waste products of metabolism.
STRUCTURAL ADAPTATIONS

27. HONEY BEE BIOLOGY-CASTE DISTINCTION
A colony of honey bees comprises a cluster of several to 60,000 workers
(sexually immature females), a queen (sexually developed female) and a few to
several hundred drones (sexually developed males). A colony normally has only
one queen whose sole function is egg laying. The bees cluster loosely over wax
combs, the cells of which are used to store honey (carbohydrate food) and
pollen (protein food) and to rear, young bees to replace old adults

28. HONEY BEE BIOLOGY-CASTE DISTINCTION
Honey bees are social insects, living together in highly organized
colonies. Three distinct kinds of honey bees in a colony are
queen, workers and drone.

31. HONEY BEE BIOLOGY-CASTE DISTINCTION
i) The queen :
It is the longest bee in the hive but has the shortest wings, pointed
abdomen, wings only partially cover the body. She is the mother of all other
bees. Her most important job is to lay eggs. She can lay more than 2000 eggs a
day. She lay one egg in every cell. Few eggs scattered among many empty
cells or several eggs per cell are signs of problems. Queen lays two types of
eggs: Fertilized eggs and unfertilized eggs.

34. HONEY BEE BIOLOGY-CASTE DISTINCTION
The worker: These are smaller than queen and drones. A strong colony
can have close to 1,00,000 workers. These bees keep the colony going.
Worker’s jobs change with their age. Young bees, called house bees, do their
hive chores. They produce wax, and shape into combs, use propolis to seal
cracks, fan their wings to ventilate the hive in summer, controlling temperature
and humidity, guard the hive to keep out raiders, produce honey and royal jelly,
feed brood and cleaning and repairing cells, feed queen and drones.

36. HONEY BEE BIOLOGY-CASTE DISTINCTION
Day 1-3: Spent cleaning hive and preparing cells for egg laying.
Day 4-6: Become nurse bees, feed worker larvae.
Day 7-14: Secrete Royal jelly, feed queen larvae.
Day 15-20: Receive, exchange nectar, ripe honey, secrete wax, build
combs.
From Day 21: Venture down to hive entrance, guard against predators,
then becomes foragers.

37. HONEY BEE BIOLOGY-CASTE DISTINCTION
iii) The Drone: These are longer than workers but not as long as
queens. A drone has compound eyes that touch each other at the top of
the head. They do not have sting or pollen basket on their legs. Their
only function is to fertilize queen and workers develop from fertilized
eggs, drones develop from unfertilized eggs. Drone cells are slightly
longer than worker cells. Drones are conceived for one purpose: to
fertilize queens during mating flights.

38. Queen Drone Worker
1. Relative
size
Large Medium Small
1. Per hive 1 50-2000 20,000 – 2.0 lakhs
1. Life span 4-5 years 21-90 days 20-40 days
1. Sex Female Male Sterile female
1. Functions - Kill sisters and mother
- Mate with male
- Lay eggs @2000/day
(200 K eggs/yr)
- Secrete pheromone
(9-hydorxy decenoic acid)
- Egg laying capacity
declines after her 2nd
year
Mate with
queen
- Make comb
- Tend larva
- Clean hive
- Gather nectar, pollen etc.
- Defend colony

39. S.No. Queen Drone Workers
1 Fertile female and largest in
size
Fertile male and bigger
than workers
Imperfect female
smaller than drone
2 Abdomen extends beyond the
closed wings and pendulous
It is not so It is not so
3 Compound eyes normal Large and holoptic Normal
4 Frontal region not reduced Reduced Not reduced
5 Absent Tip of the abdomen
pointed with
ovipositor modified
in to sting
6 Pollen basket absent and wax
glands absent
Absent Present

40. HONEY BEE BIOLOGY-CASTE DISTINCTION
Honey bees undergo complete metamorphosis through four
developmental stages i.e., Egg, larva, pupa and adult
Egg: Queen lays both fertilized and unfertilized eggs which are
similar in size and shape. Fertilized eggs develop into females ( Worker
and Queen) and unfertilized eggs develop into drone bees. Eggs are laid
singly and attached vertically to the bottom of comb. Eggs hatch on 3rd
day.
Larva: After hatching, all the larvae are fed with royal jelly ( bee
milk produced by worker bee) for 3 days. Thereafter, the worker and
drone larvae are fed with nectar and pollen. A queen larvae is
continuously fed with royal jelly upto 8th day. Initially, the larvae are
loop shaped, but towards cell capping get stretched in the cell with head
facing upwards. After passing through four moults, larvae enter into the
prepupal and final pupal stage.

46. HONEY BEE BIOLOGY-CASTE DISTINCTION
Pupa: Before entering into pupal stage, the larvae spins a thin
silken cocoon around itself and undergoes gradual, but drastic
changes. At this stage, head, thorax, abdomen are clearly
distinguishable and compound eyes and other appendages are
also clearly visible.
Adult: When pupal development stage is completed, the
insect metamorphosis into adult and adult bee emerges by
gnawing its way out of the sealed cell

48. S.No
.
Developmental stage Queen Worker Drone
1 Egg- Apis cerena (A.c) 3 3 3
Apis mellifera(A,m) 3 3 3
2 Larvae- A.c 5 4-5 7
A.m 5 5 7
3 Pupae-A.c 7-8 11-12 14
A.m 8 12-13 14
4 Adult-A.c 15-16 18-20 24
A.m 16 21 24

49. Workers:
Form bulk of the colony population.
Functionally sterile females.
Perform all duties and labor for maintenance of the colony.
Develop from a fertilized egg laid by the queen.

50. Labor activities of workers:
• Feeding, care of the young (nurse activities)
• Comb building and nest constructions.
• Protection of the colony (clean cells before reuse, remove debris and dead bees)
• Maintenance of colony internal environment (Fan at the entrance to circulate fresh
air into the hive if Co2 levels get too high or if temperature rise above acceptable
levels).
• Collection and storage of food (nectar and pollen)
• Serve as guards at the hive entrance to protect from intruders by attacking and
stinging.
Nectar is converted into honey by workers in the hive. When the honey is ripe the
cells have been filled, workers cap the cells with a wax capping. Pollen is carried on the
hind legs when foraging. Pollen is stored in the cells and serves as the source of
proteins, fats and minerals.

51. Queen: Queen is the most important individual in the colony, It is responsible for normal
functioning of the hive.Quality of the queen which determines the value of a hive.
•Develop from a fertilized egg.
•Queens are reared in special cells – hang vertically and extended as larva grows.
•Queen larvae are fed a diet of “royal Jelly”
•Queen mate with 10-12 drones.
•Nuptial flight from day 20-24 days age.
•Egg laying from days 23.
Biological role of queen:
•Reproduction – egg laying.
•Production of pheromones – maintain social order and allow workers to determine queen
presence.
•Prevent worker ovaries development.
Prevent queen rearing.

53. Drones:
• These are males larger than workers, larger eyes, no sting.
• It hatch from unfertilized egg reared in larger cells, longer
development (24 days)
• Only function – reproductive.
• Reach sexual maturity at about 12 days of age.
Virgin queens leave the hive to mate, seeking males at drone
congregation areas. Mating occurs in flight. Drone congregation areas
remain stable over a period of years.
Comb is made up of hexagonal cells – optimal arrangement, cells
offset on different sides with an angle 9-140 usually 130. Majority of cells
are worker cells (83%) and remaining cells are drone (17%). Worker
cells average 5.23 mm (5-6 mm) in diameter, drone cells 6.2 mm (6-7
mm).

54. Apiculture: Beekeeping as an industry
Honey and beekeeping have a long history in India. Honey was the first sweet food
tasted by the ancient Indian inhabiting rock shelters and forests. The raw materials for
the beekeeping industry are mainly pollen and nectar that come from flowering plants.
Both the natural and cultivated vegetation in India constitute an immense potential for
development of beekeeping. About 500 flowering plant species, both wild and
cultivated, are useful as major or minor sources of nectar and pollen.Honey has a long
history of human consumption, and is most commonly consumed in its unprocessed
state(i.e. liquid, crystallized or in the comb). It is taken as medicine, eaten as food, or
incorporated as an additive in a variety of food and beverages. India has been known as
‘land of honey.’ Since centuries, honey is used to treat a variety of ailments through a
wide range of applications.

55. Rapeseed / Mustard Honey, Eucalyptus Honey, Lychee
Honey, Sunflower Honey, Karanj / Pongamea Honey, Multi-
flora Himalayan Honey, Acacia Honey, Wild Flora Honey,
Multi and Mono floral Honey are some of the major varieties
of Natural Honey.

56. Macro benefits of Beekeeping include:
1.Excellent source of employment for the rural unemployed: currently approx. 250,000
farmers in India are employed through beekeeping.
2. Provides an excellent source of income for the landless farmers: since beekeeping in
migratory in nature, even the landless farmers can take up this profession.
3. No farm land is wasted as apiaries are kept on the boundaries and not cultivable land.
4. Increases crop yield by cross ––pollination: can increase yields in some crops by up
to 200%.
The per capita consumption of honey in India is just 8 grams, whereas in Germany it is
1800 grams. About sixteen lakh people are directly or indirectly engaged in the bee
keeping and allied activities. Major honey producing states in the country include
Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, UP, Bihar and West Bengal. However, quality
honey reportedly comes mainly from the states of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal
Pradesh.

57. 1. The All India Beekeepers’ Association, Kolkata, w.Bengal has made laudable
contributions to the development of beekeeping and has been disseminating
information about honey trade through its informative publication Indian Bee
Journal.
2. Agricultural Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), New Delhi
under the aegis of the Ministry of Commerceand Industry, government of India, is
the nodal agency to promote exports of honey.
3. Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Ltd
(TRIFED), New Delhi has been playing an importantrole by providing training to
tribals in the scientific cultivation and harvesting of wild honey. A lot of workhas
also been done on honey related issues like Indian bees and beekeeping by
individuals, agricultural experts, agricultural colleges and institutions.
3. The Central Bee Research and Training Institute, Pune---- and
4. Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), Mumbai not onlycontributed
to the science of bees, bee plants and beekeeping but also developed several
appropriatetechnologies suited to Indian beekeeping.
5. In India the Export Inspection Council (EIC) under the Union Ministry of
Commerce arranges for tests on residues, antibiotics, etc., in the honey meant.
6. All India Coordinated project on honey bee research and training at Bee
research station, Nagrota, Himachal Pradesh.
The first bee keeping research station was established in Punjab in 1945 by
ICAR.

58. NATIONAL BEE BOARD, New Delhi:
Main objective is overall development of Beekeeping by promoting Scientific
Beekeeping in India to increase the productivity of crops through pollination and
increase the Honey production for increasing the income of the Beekeepers/ Farmers.
•Overall development of scientific beekeeping in India by popularizing state of the art
technologies through the governmental schemes of National Horticulture Mission and
Horticulture Mission for North East and Himalayan States in the country.
•Development of nucleus stock production, capacity building programmes and
training of bee breeders and beekeepers, processing, research work, etc. and
conducting of seminars.
•Dissemination of information on technological advancement in the field of
beekeeping through its various publications and the quarterly magazine “Bee World”.
•Initiating steps for quality honey production and other bee hive products for overseas
and domestic markets besides enhancing productivity of various crops through bee
pollination.
•Increasing the employment opportunity in rural sector and thus enhancing the
ancillary income of the beekeepers & farmers.

59. • Number of bee keepers in India- 1,50,000
• No. of bee hives- 6,00,000
• Average production of honey/bee hive/year- 8.5Kg

60. Constraints in the Industry:
•Quality testing facilities are also not easily available to beekeepers and packers in
India. The European Union will not import honey from countries where the use of
pesticides is not regulated and where samples are not specifically tested for insecticidal
residues.
•Some honey importing countries also insist on a certificate to the effect that the honey
has been procure from disease-free colonies. However, there is no arrangement for
diseases surveillance.
•Honey is often stored in undesirable and inappropriate containers which deteriorate the
quality.
•Above all, the processing of honey has to be of high standards so that quality
deterioration is minimal. Imports from China and Argentina, the two large exporters, are
now being avoided due to the poor quality of honey and many counties are turning
towards new exporters like India. Europe, the USA and Japan are the major honey
importers.India needs to build the confidence of world buyers.
•The price, supply, purity and service are the major determinants in the honey industry..

61. Future prospects
•Honey industry in the country can well become a major foreign
exchange earner if international standards are met.
•Beekeeping is an age-old tradition in India but it is considered a no-
investment profit giving venture in most areas.Of late it has been
recognised that it has the potential to develop as a prime agri-
horticultural and forest-based industry.
•Honey production is a lucrative business and it generates employment.
• With the use of modern collection, storage, beekeeping equipment,
honey processing plants and bottling technologies the potential export
market can be tapped.

67. REFERENCES:
•Abrol, D.P.2010. Bees and Bee keeping in India. Kalyani Publishers, Ludhiana. Pp450
•David, B.V and Kumara Swami, T. 2016. Elements of Economic Entomology, Popular Book
Depot, Madras. Pp536
•Ganga, G and Sulochana Chetty, J. 2008. An introduction to sericulture. Oxford and IBH
Publishing Co.Pvt.Ltd., New Delhi. Pp160
•Gautam, R.D.2008. Biological Pest Suppression
•Ghorai, N. 1995. Lac culture in India. International Books & Periodicals Supply Service.
•Jolly, M.S. 1987. Appropriate sericulture techniques . International center for training and
research in tropical sericulture, Mysore. Pp209
•Krishnaswami, S., Narasimma, M.N., Suryanarayan, S.K and Kumararaj,S. 1995. Silkworm
Rearing. Sericulture Manual 2. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co.Pvt.Ltd., New Delhi. Pp150
•Mishra, R.C.1995. Honeybees and their management in India. ICAR, New Delhi.
•Patnaik, R.K.2008. Mulberry Cultivation
•Rangaswami, G., Narasimhanna, M.N., Kasiviswanatham, K., Sastry, C.R and Jolly, M.S. 1995.
Mulberry Cultivation. Sericulture Manual 2. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co.Pvt.Ltd.,New Delhi.
Pp150
•Sailesh Chattopadhyay. 2011. Introduction to lac and lac culture. Tech. Bulletin.FBTI:01/2011
•Abrol, D.P.2010. Bees and Bee keeping in India. Kalyani Publishers, Ludhiana. Pp450
•David, B.V and Kumara Swami, T. 2016. Elements of Economic Entomology, Popular Book
Depot, Madras. Pp536
•Ganga, G and Sulochana Chetty, J. 2008. An introduction to sericulture. Oxford and IBH
Publishing Co.Pvt.Ltd., New Delhi. Pp160
•Gautam, R.D.2008. Biological Pest Suppression

68. MARKS ALLOTMENT
1. Mid semester Examination : 50M
2. Final Practical Examination : 25M
3. Class Work : 25M
Record: 10M
Observation Notes: 5M
Attendance: 3M
Discipline and attentive and answering: 2M
Internal Tests: 5M
4. Assignment : 25M
Power Point Presentation:10M
Model preparation:5M
Photo frame/Laminations :5M
Internal Write ups:5M

69. “Strive hard to make farming profitable and sustainable for the prosperous Nation”