How Does A Bee Get Oxygen?

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Bee respiration is critical to bee flight and operation, hence we also look at how different bees have adapted to be efficient in different environments.

If we look at how we get oxygen, we breathe air into our lungs. Oxygen transfers into the blood and gets bound to hemoglobin in red blood cells. 

How We Breathe

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They do not have lungs. They have spiracles – small holes in their hard exoskeleton. A bee can be loosely divided into major sections based on the shape of the exoskeleton.

How Bees Breathe

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provide openings into these segments.

Spiracles 

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These reinforced pipes or trachea form a network that spreads into the body of the bee.

Trachea 

These air sacks will expand if the bee extends her abdomen, and they will contract if she contracts her abdomen.

Air Sacks

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A bee can be loosely divided into major sections based on the shape of the exoskeleton. The major segments are the head, thorax, and abdomen. 

How Does Bee Respiration Work?

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Bees have an alternative to our blood. This is called  hemolymph and it is circulated around in a so-called open circulatory system. 

Hemolymph

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The bee heart is long and acts as a pump to suck hemolymph from the abdomen to the head segment.

The Bee  Heart

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ADVICE

How does a bee get oxygen? Well, bees use a completely different system. They do not have lungs. They have spiracles – small holes in their hard exoskeleton. 

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