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 Albums containing "Apis"   

Asian Bees (A. cerana)
Apis cerana is the sister species of our bees (A. mellifera). It is the original host of the varroa mites (Varroa jacobsoni, Varroa destructor). Bees are generally smaller and with more striking bands on the abdomen compared to our bees. Most photoes taken in China, some in Thailand.
Giant Bees (A. dorsata)
Giant honey bees (Apis dorsata, Apis laboriosa) occur only in Asia (China, India, Malasia, Nepal, Thailand). They nest in tall trees or under rocks with a single piece of comb. Bees can forage at night with strong moonlight.
Disease & Pests
Disease and pests of honey bees, mainly Apis mellifera.
Asian Bees
Asian hive bees: Apis cerana
Giant Bees
Giant honey bees: Apis dorsata + laboriosa
European Bees
Whiteman's flies: Apis mellifera
Dwarf Bees
Dwarf honey bees include Apis florea and Apis andreniformis. Both are about 1/4 of European honey bees and nest in the open with a single comb (about 1-1.5 ft long). Florea has the more reddish color while andreniformis is totally black in the abdomen when old. The two are so similar that they were considered to be one species until a few years ago.
Dwarf Bees
Dwarf honey bees: Apis florea + andreniformis

 
 Photos containing "Apis"   

From Album:  Bees Foraging
A European bee (Apis mellifera) foraging on hyacinth (Hyacinthaceae). Beijing, China. March 2002.
From Album:  Bees Foraging
Three European bees (Apis mellifera) foraging on hyacinth (Hyacinthaceae). Beijing, China. March 2002.
From Album:  Bees Foraging
A European bee (Apis mellifera) foraging on hyacinth (Hyacinthaceae). Beijing, China. March 2002..
From Album:  Bees Foraging
A European bee (Apis mellifera) foraging on hyacinth (Hyacinthaceae). Beijing, China. March 2002..
From Album:  Bees Foraging
A European bee (Apis mellifera) foraging on hyacinth (Hyacinthaceae). Beijing, China. March 2002.
From Album:  Bees Foraging
A European bee (Apis mellifera) foraging on hyacinth (Hyacinthaceae). Beijing, China. March 2002.
From Album:  Bees Foraging
A European bee (Apis mellifera) foraging on hyacinth (Hyacinthaceae). Beijing, China. March 2002.
From Album:  Bees Foraging
Two European bees (Apis mellifera) foraging on hyacinth (Hyacinthaceae). Beijing, China. March 2002.


From Album:  Bees Foraging
A European bee (Apis mellifera) foraging on iris (Iridaceae). Beijing, China. March 2002.
From Album:  Bees Foraging
A European bee (Apis mellifera) foraging on iris (Iridaceae). Beijing, China. March 2002.
From Album:  Bees Foraging
A European bee (Apis mellifera) foraging on peach (Rosaceae). Beijing, China. March 2002.
From Album:  Bees Foraging
A European bee (Apis mellifera) foraging on peach (Rosaceae). Beijing, China. March 2002.
From Album:  Bees Foraging
A European bee (Apis mellifera) foraging on peach (Rosaceae). Beijing, China. March 2002.
From Album:  Bees Foraging
A European bee (Apis mellifera) foraging on peach (Rosaceae). Beijing, China. March 2002.
From Album:  Bees Foraging
A European bee (Apis mellifera) foraging on peach (Rosaceae). Beijing, China. March 2002.
From Album:  Bees Foraging
A European bee (Apis mellifera) foraging on peach (Rosaceae). Beijing, China. March 2002.


From Album:  Bees Foraging
A European bee (Apis mellifera) foraging on aloe (Aloe spp, Asphodelaceae). San Diego, CA. Dec 2001.
From Album:  Bees Foraging
A European bee (Apis mellifera) foraging on aloe (Aloe spp, Asphodelaceae). San Diego, CA. Dec 2001.
From Album:  Bees Foraging
A European bee (Apis mellifera) foraging on origanum (Origanum vulgares, Lamiaceae). MSU apiary, MI. July 2002.


From Album:  Bees Foraging
A European bee (Apis mellifera) foraging on origanum (Origanum vulgares, Lamiaceae). MSU apiary, MI. July 2002 .
From Album:  Bees Foraging
A European bee (Apis mellifera) foraging on an aster (Asteraceae). Beijing, China. May 2002.
Check here for more aster flowers.
From Album:  Bees Foraging
A European bee (Apis mellifera) foraging on an aster (Asteraceae). UC-Davis, CA. July 2001.


From Album:  Bees Foraging
A honey bee (most likely Africanized, Apis mellifera scutellata) foraing on a bottle-brush (Callistemon spp, Myrtaceae). Bees sometimes become traped there because the filaments are so long. April 12, 2000. Tucson, AZ.
From Album:  Bees Foraging
Another shot of a bee (Apis mellifera scutellata) foraing on a bottle-brush (Callistemon spp, Myrtaceae). Bees sometimes become traped there because the filaments are so long. April 12, 2000. Tucson, AZ.
From Album:  Bees Foraging
A honey bee foraging on the white pear-like flower (Rosaceae). Avignon, France. March 16, 2002.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera
From Album:  Bees Foraging
A honey bee foraging on the white pear-like flower (Rosaceae). Avignon, France. March 16, 2002.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera
From Album:  Bees Foraging
An Africanized honey bee foraging on a calliandra flower (Calliandra, Mimosaceae). Tucson, AZ. April 9, 2000.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera scutellata
From Album:  Bees Foraging
An European bees foraging on a type of aster.

KEYWORDS:   aster, bee, foraging, apis mellifera
From Album:  Bees on Roses
All photos were taken April 2001, in the rose garden, Beijing Botanical Garden, China.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera
From Album:  Bees on Roses
A bee on rose.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera
From Album:  Bees on Roses
A bee on rose.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera
From Album:  Bees on Roses
A bee on rose.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera
From Album:  Bees on Roses
Busy bees on roses.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera
From Album:  Bees on Roses
A bee on rose.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera
From Album:  Bees on Roses
A bee on rose.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera
From Album:  Bees on Peonies
This photo was published in the April issue of Science (296: 636), 2002. Credit was missing but appeared on 296:2336, 2002.
All the following photos were taken April 2001, in the Peony Garden, Beijing Botanical Garden, China.
Bees: Apis mellifera
Plants: Paeonia spp, Paeoniaceae.
From Album:  Asian Bees (A. cerana)
A bee foraging on a begonia (Begoniaceae). Yunnan, China. May 2001.

KEYWORDS:   Apis cerana
From Album:  Asian Bees (A. cerana)
A bee foraging on a begonia (Begoniaceae). Yunnan, China. May 2001.

KEYWORDS:   Apis cerana
From Album:  Asian Bees (A. cerana)
A bee foraging on a dahlia flower (Dahlia spp, Asteraceae). Yunnan, China. May 2001.

KEYWORDS:   Apis cerana
From Album:  Asian Bees (A. cerana)
A bee foraging on Scarlet sage (Salvia splendens, Lamiaceae). Yunnan, China. May 2001.

KEYWORDS:   Apis cerana
From Album:  Asian Bees (A. cerana)
A bee foraging on Scarlet sage (Salvia splendens, Lamiaceae). Yunnan, China. May 2001.

KEYWORDS:   Apis cerana
From Album:  Asian Bees (A. cerana)
A bee foraging on prevet (Ligustrum spp, Oleaceae). Yunnan, China. May 2001.

KEYWORDS:   Apis cerana
From Album:  Asian Bees (A. cerana)
A bee foraging on day flowers (Commelinaceae). This bee was foraging before there was full light (around 5 am). Yunnan, China. May 2001.

KEYWORDS:   Apis cerana
From Album:  Asian Bees (A. cerana)
Three bees foraging on a poppy (Eschscholzia spp, Papaveraceae). Chiangmai, Thailand. May 2000.

KEYWORDS:   Apis cerana
From Album:  Asian Bees (A. cerana)
A bee foraging on sweet ternera (Turnera ulmifolia, Turneraceae). Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. May 2001.

KEYWORDS:   Apis cerana
From Album:  Asian Bees (A. cerana)
An Apis cerana foraging on dianthus flowers (Dianthus spp, Caryophyllaceae). Chiangmai, Thailand. March 22, 2000.
From Album:  Asian Bees (A. cerana)
An Apis cerana foraging on dianthus flowers (Dianthus sinensis, Caryophyllaceae). Chiangmai, Thailand. March 22, 2000.
From Album:  Asian Bees (A. cerana)
An Apis cerana foraging on a mustard (Brassicaceae). Chiangmai, Thailand. March 22, 2000.
From Album:  Bees Near Entrance
A returning pollen forager in flight. September 2001. Zach's back yard.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera
From Album:  Bees Near Entrance
Two pollen foragers in flight, viewed from top. Notice the wings of the closest bee are in the lowest position, just beginning to be lifted upward.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera
From Album:  Bees Near Entrance
Pollen foragers returning home.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera
From Album:  Bees Near Entrance
Pollen foragers returning home.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera
From Album:  Bees Near Entrance
Two bees greet one incoming pollen forager near the entrance. The greeting can become unfriendly when the incoming bee smells different from other hivemates.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera
From Album:  Bees Near Entrance
A 'guard' bee (left) inspecting an incoming bee to see if she belongs to the family or not. Going into the wrong house may met with rejection and occasionally, death.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera
From Album:  Bees Near Entrance
Two bees lapping honey on a piece of white paper near the entrance.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera
From Album:  Bees Near Entrance
A worker carrying a deadbee out, also called 'undertaking'. Undertakers are around 14 days old and usually during the transition from nursing to foraging.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera
From Album:  Bees Near Entrance
Dead bees in snow in Feburary. Bees will soak sun energy and melt a small hole around the body, due to their darker color.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera
From Album:  Bee-like Flies
This one probably mimics an Apis cerana (notice the much higher contrast for color between the abdomen segments), while the one before this one mimics Apis mellifera. Beijing, China. May 8, 2002.


From Album:  Giant Bees (A. dorsata)
Two giant honey bees foraging on a flower of dillenia (Dillenia turbinata, Dilleniaceae). Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. April 2002.

KEYWORDS:   Apis dorsata

Matching Comments:
i didn`t know that this apis dorsata has penetrated north towards china. i am working with the domestication and breeding of this honey bee in malaysia.

Apis dorsata is endemic to Hainan and Xishuangbana, China and also in Thailand and Nepal. Zachary
From Album:  Giant Bees (A. dorsata)
A giant honey bee foraging on a megafruit pachira (Pachira macrocapa, Bombacaceae). Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. April 2002.

KEYWORDS:   Apis dorsata
From Album:  Giant Bees (A. dorsata)
A giant honey bee foraging on a megafruit pachira (Pachira macrocapa, Bombacaceae). Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. April 2002.

KEYWORDS:   Apis dorsata
From Album:  Giant Bees (A. dorsata)
A giant honey bee foraging on flowers of a Chinese holly tree (Ilex rotunda, Aquifoliaceae). Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. April 2002.

KEYWORDS:   Apis dorsata
From Album:  Giant Bees (A. dorsata)
A giant honey bee foraging on a water lilly (Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaeaceae). I had to wait for about 20 min near this flower before a bee finally came. This is because I did not have a boat and most bees foraged near the middle of the lake.

KEYWORDS:   Apis dorsata
From Album:  Giant Bees (A. dorsata)
A giant honey bee foraging on flowers of a willow (Salix spp, Salicaceae). Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. April 2002.

KEYWORDS:   Apis dorsata
From Album:  Giant Bees (A. dorsata)
A giant honey bee foraging on a flower of a common guava ( Psidium guava, Myrtaceae). Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. April 2002.

KEYWORDS:   Apis dorsata
From Album:  Giant Bees (A. dorsata)
A giant honey bee foraging on flowers of cooking banana (Musa sapintum, Musaceae). I saw this bee foraging the first day, but after that I tried many days to get a closer picture but never saw dorsata again on this flower. Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. April 2002.

KEYWORDS:   Apis dorsata
From Album:  Giant Bees (A. dorsata)
An Apis dorsata foraging on sun flower (Asteraceae). Hainan Island, China. Photo by Runzhi Zhang.
From Album:  Asian Bees
Various pupal stages of Apis cerana.
From Album:  Asian Bees
Eggs of Apis cerana.
From Album:  Asian Bees
Apis cerana larvae, about 2 days before being sealed. Unless you start with brand new foundation for Apis mellifera, you do not see beeswax this white for brood cells. In Apis cerana, they do not seem to recycle the wax for brood cells as much as our bees.


From Album:  Asian Bees
Apis cerana workers on capped brood. A. cerana probably never reuses old wax for brood capping (as the mellifera do), since the brood capping is almost as clean as the honey capping.
From Album:  Asian Bees
Apis cerana workers on sealed and open honey cells.
From Album:  Asian Bees
Apis cerana workers on pollen cells. Pollen cells are never sealed and are never filled near the top -- bees always leave about 20% space. Not sure why.


Matching Comments:
Some sites I've been to say that bees of Apis mellifera will fill pollen cells mostly then cover them with honey as a preservative. Maybe the Apis dorsata colonies do the same thing.

I mean Apis cerana
From Album:  Asian Bees
Strange drone caps of Apis cerana. Workers remove the wax a few days after the drone larvae were sealed, exposing the cocoon-cap which has a small hole on it. The signicance of the hole is not clear. However, we do know the strong capping can only be opened by the drone when he emerges. Workers outside cannot open the caps, leaving dead drones to mummify inside. This can be another mechanism of mite-resistance because if the drone pupae has too many mites and dies, mites will be trapped inside and will also die.
From Album:  Asian Bees
Various stages of development of Apis cerana, from a larva to an adult bee.


From Album:  Giant Bees
A newly emerged Apis dorsata on my thumb. Just like all honey bees, newly emerged bees do not sting and cannot fly.
From Album:  Giant Bees
A newly emerged Apis dorsata worker. Notice the small mite on the thorax -- this is the notorious 'lesser' mite (Tropilelaeps clarae), a large pest in China and other Asian countries on Apis mellifera. It jumped host from dorsata to mellifera there.


From Album:  Giant Bees
A drone of Apis dorsata emerging from his cell. Unlike in our bees, where the drone cell is much larger than worker's, in this bee there is no difference between the two! Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. April 10, 2002.


From Album:  Giant Bees
A closeup of an old giant honey bee (Apis dorsata). While their body has similar diameters as mellifera (the average worker cell size is 5.4 mm across), they body is longer and wings has a smoky looking. Bands on abdomen gets darker as workers age.
From Album:  Giant Bees
It seems that as the workers get larger, the difference in size between workers and drones gets smaller. Here you see the drone (top) is only 1 mm longer than the worker, in Apis dorsata (the giant honey bee). There is also no cell size differences between worker and drone cells!
In the dwarf honey bees (A. florea and andreniformis), the difference between the two is the largest, both in terms of body size and cell size.
From Album:  Giant Bees
Change in appearances in Apis dorsata worker, from pupa to adult.
From Album:  European Bees
A typical 'Italian' bee (Apis mellifera ligustica) busy making honey.
From Album:  European Bees
A black bee (perhaps Apis mellifera carnica) busy making honey.
From Album:  European Bees
This is rather rare! One bee is feeding four others at the same time. Can you spot which is giving food? This picture was taken in South Africa, the bees were Apis mellifera scutellata (the so called killer bees).
From Album:  European Bees
Bees on the entrance. This picture was taken in South Africa, the bees were Apis mellifera scutellata (the so called killer bees). They looked almost exactly like our gentler bees...
From Album:  Dwarf Bees
An Apis florea worker foraging on Mexican heather (cuphea hysopifolia, Lythraceae). This cultivated plant was popular in Yunnan and I have seen dorsata, florea, mellifera and cerana all foraging on the same plant!
From Album:  Dwarf Bees
An Apis florea worker foraging on a mimosa (Fabaceae), which was planted in a vegetable garden near Jinghong. Again, we found florea, cerana, and dorsata all foraging on this plant at the same time (around noon, April 2002).


From Album:  Dwarf Bees
An Apis florea worker foraging on a discarded water melon. Yunnan, April 2002.
From Album:  Dwarf Bees
Three dwarf honey bees (Apis florea) foraging on asters in a Thai flower market. After a bunch of bee scientisits discussing the nest should not be far, we found a nest on a tree above the roof not far away. I also saw Apis cerana foraging on cabbage flowers but did not get a good shot. We failed to see any dorsata foraging in the market, but did see stingless bees also. Chiangmai, Thailand. March 23, 2000.
From Album:  Dwarf Bees
Trick photo! This is a newly emerged dorsata worker on a florea nest. The dorsata was dipped in honey before introduced so workers were licking her, making her looking like a queen! The next day the worker was still in the nest, seemly being accepted by their much smaller cousins.

KEYWORDS:   Apis dorsata, Apis florea
From Album:  Dwarf Bees
An Apis andreniformis worker on my fingers. Notice she is totally black, not reddish as Apis florea.
From Album:  Dwarf Bees
A nest of Apis andreniformis.


Matching Comments:
I thought the Apis andreniformis was black. Many are red here.
From Album:  Dwarf Bees
I tagged a florea worker with a numbered tag and introduced her back to the nest. I was trying to see if the tags would stay since the bees are so small and the tags were designed for mellifera queens. I also wanted to see bees would accept their tagged sisters since they seem to be very sensitive to smell. A newly tagged worker here gets a lot of attention because of the smell of resin used to glue the tag.


Matching Comments:
The resin you used to tag this Apis florea, was it the bee resin, propolis? Did the other bees reject her?
From Album:  Dwarf Bees
A closeup of florea workers on the top flat surface. This is also called the "dance floor" because florea workers dance on a flat surface, they do not use gravity as a reference as Apis mellifera and cerana, which both live side dark cavities.


From Album:  Honey for Sale
A lady selling honey harvested from Apis cerana. The price is about 5 yuan per half kilo ($0.60 per lb). The honey is usually robbed from unmanaged colonies. I have also seen honey and brood sold from dorsata colonies. Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. April 8, 2002.
From Album:  Honey for Sale
A closeup of look at the honey from Apis cerana.


From Album:  Swarm-Catching (Easy)
Swarm discovered: 9:19am, 6/13/2002. At the MSU apiary near the Lake.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera, swarm catching.
From Album:  Swarm-Catching (Hard)
Time is 11:52:24 am, June 21, 2000. 'Actors': Prof. Fred Dyer, Joeg Schmidt-Bailey, Micah Gill, and Dina Grayson, all of Michigan State University. At MSU apiary. Photographed by Zachary Huang.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera swarm catching, swarm hiving.
From Album:  Apiary Scenes
An apiary of Apis mellifera near the rubber tree forests in Yunnan, China. Rubber trees have extra-floral nectaries and can produce high yield (but considered so so quality) honey. The owner tells me he sells only about 400 yuan ($50 US) per ton of honey. March 28, 2002. Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China.
From Album:  Apiary Scenes
Streetside beekeeping. Migrating beekeepers have their bees, a portable wooden house, in Beijing, right on the road side. I was told that they were move north soon so here is more like a rest stop. Beijing, China. June 7, 2001.

KEYWORDS:   Apis mellifera
From Album:  Apiary Scenes
Apis cerana kept in fixed wooden boxes. These were then left in the balcony of a government office building and apartment. In the far background you can see a similar hive on a stand. Out of the 2 million colonies of Apis cerana in China, some are still kept this way, in hives with non-movable frames. Yunnan, China. May, 2001.
From Album:  Apiary Scenes
Front yard beekeeping of Apis cerana colonies. This is at Puwa, a place about 100 km from Beijing. With very tough terrain, it took us about 4 hours to travel there from Beijing. We were there to look for varroa mites (nothing) and to buy two colonies for research. May 12, 2001.


From Album:  Bug me not!
fly-on-finger


Matching Comments:
Nature mimicking nature! From a distance one could believe this is Apis mellifera. Very clear photo.
From Album:  This Webmaster's Bee Lab.
Zachary Huang sampling Apis cerana workers. Yunnan, China. April 2002.
From Album:  This Webmaster's Bee Lab.
Zachary Huang measuring cell diameters of Apis cerana. Yunnan, China. April 2002.
From Album:  The Keepers.
An extension officier showing us his Apis cerana bees kept in movable hives. He is trying to pursude beekeepers to switch to movable hives. Yunnan, China. May 22, 2001.
From Album:  The Academics.
Prof. Gard Otis checking bees in early spring at the University of Guelph apiary. Gard was a student of Prof. "Chip" Taylor and worked with Africanized bees as a student. Since then he has worked on a variety of research topics, from the biology of newly re-classified Apis species, to breeding bees for tracheal mite resistance. He has an extensive collection of Asian Apis species. March, 1999.
His web address is: http://www.uoguelph.ca/OAC/env/bio/otis.htm
From Album:  The Academics.
Prof. Zachary Huang measuring brood cell volume of the Asian hive bee (Apis cerana) using a syringe. Zachary obtained his Ph.D. (1988) with Dr. Gard Otis at University of Guelph, Canada. Zachary works on honey bee and varroa mite biology. His best known work is the "social inhibition" model for explaining how workers inside a colony "know" when to become foragers. With his collaborators, he was the first one successfully to accomplish the following in acarines (mites): characterization of neurotransmitter receptors (1990) and cloning and sequencing of a sodium channel gene (2002) . Yunnan, China. April 2002, photo by Guangmin Zhang.
Zach has many web pages:
Dept profile www.msu.edu/~bees
Bee Lab bees.msu.edu
Extension cyberbee.msu.edu
Invention: www.mitezapper.com
Bee Photos photo.bees.net
Bug eating eat.bees.net


From Album:  The Academics.
Dr. RWK Punchihewa checking his bees at the Baton Rouge USDA bee lab. Puchi did his Ph.D. at Guelph around the same time as me (1983-1988). If you want to learn more about the Asian hive bees (Apis cerana), read his book (Beekeeping for honey production in Sri Lanka: Management of asiatic hive honeybee Apis cerana in its natural tropical monsoonal environment, ISBN 955-9282-01-8, pp 232, Printed by Sarvodaya Vishva Kekha, Tamalana, Sri Lanka). He is now a senior lecturer at University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka. Baton Rouge, May 19, 1999.
From Album:  Nosema disease
Spore stage of Nosema apis, the protozoan that causes Nosema disease in honey bees. Magnified about 400 times, on a hemocytometer which has small squares to quantify the spores. Photo by Yuchuan Qin. 2003, MSU.
From Album:  Chalkbrood disease
Chalkbrood, whereby the larvae becomes mouldy with white hyphae (vegetative body of fungi), then hardened to be similar to pieces of white chalk (hence the name). Caused by a fungus (Ascosphaera apis), this disease is mostly considered a "stress" disease, only occuring in weak, or in otherwise stressed colonies (pesticide kill, not enough workers, sudden cold spell in spring etc). The spores are ubiquitous but can only germinate in larvae when the core brood temperature is 2-3 degrees below normal (35 C or 95 F). There is no chemical treatment. Photo by Prof. M.V. Smith, University of Guelph.
From Album:  Chalkbrood disease
Chalkbrood mummies removed from cells. The two on the top are producing spores, while the three below are at a slightly earlier stage. Photo by Prof. M.V. Smith, University of Guelph.

KEYWORDS:   Ascosphaera apis
From Album:  Chalkbrood disease
Chalkbrood mummies removed from cells. The mummies in the top row are producing many spores, which make the mummie totally black. This stage is now contagious. The mummies in the bottom row are nto producing spores yet and if workers remove them now, the reinfection cycle is broken. Photo by Prof. M.V. Smith, University of Guelph.

KEYWORDS:   chalkbrood, Ascosphaera apis
From Album:  Tracheal mites
A cross section of the thorax of a worker, showing the main thoracic trachea of each side. Trachea from healthy workers should be white with a silvery reflection. The ones here are infected with tracheal mites (Acarapis woodi) and has become brownish or black due to the scar tissue from mite feeding and the presece of many mites. Photo by Prof. M.V. Smith, University of Guelph.
From Album:  Tracheal mites
Two tracheal mites (Acarapis woodi) inside a worker trachea. Too many mites in there obviously blocks the airway of workers and workers become physically weaker and cannot fly as far and die earlier compared to healthy bees. Photo by Prof. M.V. Smith, University of Guelph.
From Album:  Varroa mites
All these six mites did not reproduce and all had defecated on the Apis cerana workers. This is also true in Apis mellifera: if a mite has defecated on the pupae, she would have no daughters. If she has daughter mites, she would be defecating on the wall.
From Album:  Laying workers
A laying worker colony. When a colony beomes 'hopelessly queenless', workers will eventually develop their ovaries (without the inhibition from the open brood and queen pheromone) and lay eggs. The eggs are all unfertilized so all develop into drones. Such colonies are usually doomed unless a miracle happens (about 1% of time some unfertilized eggs will become diploid through a process called thyletoky, but this process is very common in the cape bees, Apis mellifera capensis). May 30, 2003.
From Album:  Brood patterns
Brood of Apis mellifera uncapped by workers. Pupae seem to develop normally within these uncapped cells. The significance of this is not clear. Some think bees maybe uncapping the cells when they detect varroa mites there. It is true also in Apis cerana this phenomenon is more common, where varroa is not a problem. MSU apiary. July 17, 2002.
From Album:  Other pests
Tiny ants attacking an Apis dorsata pupa. Yunnan, China. April 7, 2002.

 Gallery: Zach's Bee Photos [(c) Zachary Huang], for Prints    
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