Honey Bee Bodies
ALL ABOUT THE ABDOMEN The biggest section of a honey bee’s body is the striped abdomen. The stripes are an easy-to-see warning for other animals to stay away. What usually happens if an animal bothers a honey bee?
Only female honey bees have stingers, which are at the end of the abdomen. Stingers are tiny, hollow tubes with a pointed tip and, usually, a barb. Two small sacs sit right above the stinger.
When the stinger gets pushed into skin, the sacs gets squeezed and the liquids from each sac mix together to create venom. Then when the bee flies away, the barbed stinger pulls off the end of its abdomen. This causes the bee to die.
WORDS to KNOW barb: a sharp point
going backward off another sharp point, such as on an arrow or a fishhook.
CONSIDER THE ESSENTIAL QUESTION Write your thoughts about this chapter’s Essential Question in your Bee Journal, using information you’ve gathered from reading and knowledge you may already have. Share it with other students and friends. Did you all come up with the same answers? What is different? Do this for every chapter.
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ESSENTIAL QUESTION How is a bee’s body designed to do the work it’s supposed to do? How is your body designed to do the work you do?
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