Connected on 2012-01-09 09:45:00
from Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States
- 8:20 am
- Bugscope Teamsample will be coming out of the sputter coater in a minute
- TeacherAre you expecting us at 9:45 EST?
- 8:26 am
- Bugscope Team10:45 EST, 9:45 CST
- Bugscope Teamif we need to start earlier, like 9:45 EST, we will try to hurry
- Bugscope TeamMs Friedman we did not have any honeybees, but we have a large bumblebee, a yellowjacket, a wasp, and some ants, among other things. All of those are hymenoptera, related to bees.
- Bugscope TeamThe extra critters are a stinkbug and a couple of houseflies; also we have a portion of a butterfly wing
- TeacherIt's Maddy Shapiro We can start at 10 you can or at 10:45 if you can't
- TeacherBumbe bee okay we are interested in pollinators
- Teachermy honey bees were flying on Saturday due to the warmth
- Bugscope TeamHi Maddy!
- Bugscope Team10 your time?
- 8:31 am
- Teacheryes
- Bugscope TeamI think we can do that.
- Bugscope Teamwe
- Bugscope Teamare just waiting for the vacuum to get better
- TeacherThanks- the class got the time mixed up
- Bugscope Teamthen we'll make some adjustments and start storing presets
- TeacherWe have the lab all mornig so if you need the extra time that's okay- I just need to let the class know when to come down
- Bugscope TeamThe vacuum is almost there. We will shoot for 10 your time, may be 5 or so minutes over.
- Bugscope Teamwhen you put samples in the 'scope, even if you've checked them out with a dissecting 'scope, you don't know what they'll look like at high mag
- TeacherGreat- I'm all logged in so I'm going to head off to do some tech work in the buildng- see you at 10
Bugscope Teamhey Cool. Thank You.
- 8:42 am
- 8:48 am
- 8:54 am
- 8:59 am
- TeacherWe are here!
- TeacherLet us know when you are ready
- 9:04 am
- Bugscope Teamthis is the compound eye of the very large bumblebee -- too big to let us see its whole head
- Bugscope Teamwe are ready...
- Bugscope Teamplease let us know when you have questions about anything
- Bugscope Teamyou can see that the compound eye has thousands of facets, which are individual lenses called ommatidia
- Bugscope Teamsome wasps can have as many as 17,000 ommatidia per compound eye
- Studentwhy are there hexogons on the eye
Bugscope Teamthe ommatidia are shaped like hexagons because that shape is the best shape for close-packing something that is essentially circular and also 3 dimensiona;\
- Bugscope Teamflying insects usually have big eyes that encompass most of their heads. They rely on their eyes a lot. While insects like ants usually have tiny eyes or even sometimes no eyes at all because they live in the ground
- Bugscope Team3 dimensional...
- Bugscope Teamyou can see part of the shaft of the antenna to the left; it is covered with tiny sensory hairs called setae, and also circular plate-like components called placoid sensillae
- 9:09 am
- StudentWhat is the blob on the eye?
Bugscope Teamthat's just a piece of dust or dirt
- Bugscope Teaminsects are often dirty, and when get them they are usually dead, so the dirt could have come along after they died
- Bugscope Teamthe antennae have thousands of chemoreceptors on them that allow the bee to sense chemical scents in the air, so, for example, it can find flowers by scent as well as seeing them
- Bugscope Teamyou can see there are hairs (setae) all over the bee
- Bugscope Teamsome bees have setae on their eyes as well, but this one does not
- Studentwhy do they have hair on the antennae?
Bugscope Teammost of the hairs, or setae, you see are for sense of touch. But there are special sensory areas, called placoid sensillae, that are there to get the pheromone information that other ants or insects put out
- Bugscope Teaminsects have an exoskeleton, meaning that they do not have bones on the inside but instead a kind of hardened shell, like armor, on the outside
- 9:15 am
- Studentis that similar to mammals with whiskers?
Bugscope Teamexactly! very much like cat and rat whiskers
- Bugscope Teamyou can see that there is dried fluid on this stinger, but it is very sharp and has barbs that can cut into your skin
- Bugscope Teambees, wasps, and ants are fairly closely related, and they actually look similar
- Studentwhat does the stinger inject
- Studentwhat is the stinger made of?
Bugscope Teamsame as the rest of the exoskeleton- chitin. Which happens to be the same stuff our fingernails are made of.
- Bugscope Teambecause insects (and also crustaceans like shrimp) have an exoskeleton, made of chitin, the setae we see -- the 'hairs' -- stick through to help the insects sense their environment
- Studentis the stinger the bees only wepon
Bugscope Teamit's their main weapon. Their bright yellow color is also a warning for others to stay away.
- Studenthow is the stinger sharp?
Bugscope Teamyou can see that its tip is at the bottom of the image, so it is not too sharp, and being slightly blunt it is less delicate and also hurts more
- Studentdose it have poison on it?
Bugscope Teamyes it has a venom (poison) in it
- 9:20 am
- Studentwhy does a a bee bite hurt
Bugscope Teambee bites shouldn't hurt any more than if another insect were to bite you. Their main way of causing pain is from their sting
- Bugscope Teamsome insects, like certain flies, are bee mimics, which makes other animals avoid them
- Studentdo bees only use the stinger for their defense?
Bugscope Teamin bees, the stinger is for defense, except that of the queen, which is also used, or almost exclusively used, as an ovipositor -- for laying eggs
- Bugscope Teamin parasitic, or parasitoid, wasps, the stinger is used to both sting and to inject eggs into the host insect (an ovipositor is used to lay eggs)
- Studenthow many times can a bee use it's stinger
Bugscope Teamhoney bees can only use their stinger once on a mammal (and usually only if provoked). Their stingers stay in the mammal skins. They can sting other insects multiple times though. Bumblebees and wasps can both sting multiple times
- Studentwhy does a bee's sting hurt
Bugscope Teamthe venom is mostly what makes it hurt, and it is a warning not to mess with other bees
- Bugscope Teamfuture queen larvae are fed more royal jelly than normal worker bees.
- 9:25 am
- Studenthow does a queen bee lay eggs
Bugscope Teamshe has been fertilized by drone bees -- males from another colony -- and she lays eggs through her ovipositor, which is the same thing as a stinger
- Bugscope Teamdrones are said to come from unfertilized eggs, and they are male; only the female bees come from fertilized eggs
- Studentare all the bees in the hive related to the queen bee
Bugscope Teamyes
- Studenthow dose the queen bee create another queen?
Bugscope Teamthe worker bees feed the larvae royal jelly. Otherwise it just becomes another worker bee
- Studentwhere do bees come from
Bugscope Teamthey have been around for millions of years, and have lived on all continents, but honeybees are thought to have originated in SE Asia
- Student how many years have bees been around
Bugscope Teamthey have been in existence for millions of years
- Studentwhy can a yellow jacket sting hard?
Bugscope Teamyellowjackets are wasps, and they can sting repeatedly; I am not sure why it seems harder that the sting of other wasps
- Studentis there such thing as a king bee
Bugscope Teamonly in blues songs ;)
- 9:31 am
- Studentwhat are a bees enemies
Bugscope Teamsometimes they are other bees, like other species of bees; sometimes they are ants, which are the enemies of almost everything; sometimes they are bears or other mammals that want their honey
- Bugscope Teamthe bullet ant is described as having a high sting pain like "fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail in your heel."
- Bugscope Teamon the screen now we see pollen, although it looks much like mold spores
- Studentdo bugs go to the bathroom
Bugscope Teamyes they do\
- Studentare bees color blind?
Bugscope Teamkind of. They see green and blue but can't see red. Instead of seeing red they can also see in ultraviolet
- StudentWhat is the hive made out of?
Bugscope Teamit is made of wax, from the bees, but also plant resins, and sometimes mud and other things
- Studentwhy are there spikes on the pollen
Bugscope Teamthose help the pollen balls stick to other things so they can get carried to other areas
- Studentwhere do the worker bees live if all the cells are filled with eggs?
Bugscope Teamthey live just outside of the cells so they can care for them
- Studenthow big are the drones eyes?
Bugscope TeamI think they are about twice the size of those of the workers
- Studentwhat happens when all the cells are used up?
Bugscope Teambees can make more cells, and they can also swarm, move away, and start another hive somewhere else
- 9:37 am
- Studentdoes all grains of pollen have spikes
Bugscope Teamno. pollen has a variety of shapes and sizes. stargazer lily pollen, which we have in the 'scope sometimes, has a cool raised pattern on it but is not at all spikey
- Studentwhat colors do bees come in?
Bugscope TeamI think you could say black, yellow, brown, and reddish colors
- StudentWhat is the differents between a bee, a wasp, a hornet, and a yellow jacket
- Studenthow big can a hive get to
- Studentis pollen in every plant in the world
Bugscope Teamnot all plants have pollen
- Student is pollen always round?
Bugscope Teamsometimes it is oval
- Studentwhat are bees enemies
Bugscope Teamthere are bee-eater birds, mockingbirds, kingbirds, beewolves (which are a type of wasp) and dragonflies.
- Studenthow many bees live in a hive
- StudentHow do bees mate?
Bugscope Teamnormally I understand that the female bee flies out of her normal range, when she is young, to mate in the air with drones from other hives, from other colonies; I believe when she comes back to the nest she is done mating forever. but there are many bee species, and certainly they do not all work the same way
- Studentwhat colors do bees come in
- StudentHow many bees live in a hive?
Bugscope TeamAt the height of summer there will be one queen, 200 to 300 drones (males) and 20,000 to 50,000 worker bees.
- Studenthow are hives developed
Bugscope Teamin the the ones that are made of beeswax, the beeswax is produced by glands in the abdomens of worker bees
- 9:43 am
- Studentdo bees have brothers and sisters
Bugscope Teamyes, mostly sisters, since all are born from the same queen. All the workers are female.
- Studentcan bees experience emotion
Bugscope TeamI don't believe you could say they experience emotion like we do; they are more programmed by chemical scents and visual stimuli to do what they do
- Studenthow big is a queen itself
Bugscope Teamdepending the species, the queen can be a few inches long even if the worker and drone bees are comparatively small
- Studenthow dose the queen bee know which eggs are drone eggs
Bugscope Teamthose are eggs that aren't fertilized. They probably smell or look different
- Student whats does the inside of a hive look like?
- Studenthow do bees clean them self
Bugscope Teamthey have combs built into some of their legs, and they can run those combs over their setae and also over their antennae to clean them
- StudentWhat do bees eat?
Bugscope Teamthey eat pollen and nectar
- Studentwhat are we looking at
Bugscope Teamthis is the head of an ant, which is related to bees and to wasps
- Studenthow many bees does it take to pollinate a flower
- Studentwhat do bees eat
- Bugscope Teamregarding emotions, those can be said to be chemically produced; when a bee is alarmed it can produce a pheromone that makes the other bees angry as well. people respond to chemical stimuli as well, although we think we are more rational than insects
- Studenthow does the bee hold the pollen it collects
Bugscope Teamthe pollen actually clings to their hairs. Their 'knees' are usually able to 'cup
Bugscope Teamcup' more
- 9:48 am
- Studentwhat inspired you about bugs?
Bugscope Teamthey are creatures that have to do the same things we do -- solve many of the same problems -- and it is very interesting to see how they do that
- Studentdo bees have tongues
Bugscope Teamyes but not like ours.
- Studentdo bees have teeth
Bugscope Teamthey don't have teeth, but they have mandibles, which are hinged jaws that open out like a gate
- Studentdo bees live in other places besides hives?
Bugscope Teamthey can live in the ground, in burrows in the dirt
- Studentwhat do bees eat ?
Bugscope Teamthey eat nectar, which is the sugary product of many plants' flowers, and also pollen, which is mostly fed to larvae
- Studentdo the bees need to be taught how to do their work
Bugscope Teamthey probably know what to do by what pheromones are being given off. They do what the queen needs done
- Studenthow do the bees find their way back to the hive
Bugscope Teamthey follow the scent of pheromones.
- Studentwhat is ultraviolite?
Bugscope Teamultraviolet is a wavelength of light that people cannot see (without a 'blacklight') but many insects can see
- Studentdo varroa mights like bees or not
Bugscope Teamthey are parasites of the bees, so they must like them for that reason
- Studentdo bees sleep
Bugscope Teamnot like humans. They enter a state of inactivity, where they are start moving again right away if needed
- Studentdo bees play?
Bugscope TeamI don't think they play like we do
- Studenthow many species of bees are there in the world?
Bugscope Teamthere are around 20,000 different species of bees
- StudentDo bees focus on there sense of sight or do they focus on thier hearing more?
Bugscope Teamthey focus on sight and smell
- Studenthow long can a queen honey bee live
- 9:54 am
- Studenthow many bees does it take to make a pound of honey?
Bugscope TeamI read that it can take the pollen from 2 million flowers, so that means it takes a lot of bees but I am not sure how many
- Studenthow do bees clean themselves
Bugscope Teamthey have little combs on their legs they use to clean their antennae and eyes. There may be a separate set of worker bees that can clean others as well
- StudentTHANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- StudentThank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Studentwhat is a hive made out of?
Bugscope Teamthe actually honeycomb part of the hive is made of wax the bees make from special glands on their abdomens
- StudentThank you for answering our questions!
- Studentdo varroa mights kill the bee
Bugscope Teamvarroa mites can kill bees by weakening them because they suck hemolymph (insect 'blood') out of their hosts. Varroa mites also spread viruses that can cause problems, for example weakening the wings so that they do not work properly.
- Studentdo bees get sick
Bugscope Teamyes they can get diseases
- Studentthank you for teaching us all the new things that you taught us we have learned alot!
- Bugscope Teamthank you for all your questions!
- Studentthank you for your time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Studentdo they have ears?
Bugscope TeamThey don't have ears like we think of ears but can sense vibration using some of their setae. sound is vibration, so they hear that way.
- Bugscope TeamThank You!
- Studentthank you!!!!
- Studentsee you next year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Studentgood bye
- Studentgoodbye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Bugscope Teamsee you next year, yes!
- Bugscope TeamGood Bye!
- Studentbye
- Student(:(:(:
- Studentthank you:)
- Bugscope TeamBye!
- Studentbye
- Bugscope TeamThis was a lot of fun for us. See you next year!
- 10:00 am
- Bugscope Teamhttp://bugscope.beckman.illinois.edu/members/2011-106
- Bugscope Teamover and out!
