The brain of bees weighs less than a milligram. However, they are animals with extraordinary complexity. Some species, like the famous honey bee, have an excellent navigation system, a powerful memory and a very elaborate social structure. Within their large societies, they display a wide repertoire of behaviors, including a very unique system of communication.
All your skills and abilities are possible because your senses are highly developedSpecifically, the vision of bees is one of the most complex in the animal kingdom. Their compound eyes are capable of distinguishing a wide repertoire of shapes and colors. You want to know more? Don't miss this article on our site about how bees see
The eyes of the bees
To understand how bees see, it is essential to know what their eyes are like. All types of bees have two compound eyes. Each of them is made up of thousands of tiny hexagonal eyes known as ommatidia. A bee can have between 1,000 and 16,000 ommatidia for each eye, depending on its species and even its caste (in the case of social bees). Thus, these tiny lenses collect light from a small part of the world.
In each ommatidium there are structures known as photoreceptors. They are elongated and aligned cells that contain a series of pigments, the molecules responsible for absorbing light. When this happens, they change their structure and a series of phenomena are triggered that transform the light into an electrical signal Finally, this signal reaches the brain, which interprets it and transforms it into a single binocular image.
The field of vision of bees
As we have seen, each ommatidium picks up the brightness and color of a very small region. Subsequently, the signals from all the ommatidia and the two eyes join together, reaching the brain. Once in it, a single panoramic image similar to a mosaic is projected, that is, the image collected by each ommatidium is a piece of said mosaic.
The size of the field of vision of bees depends on each species. In general, the eyes of bees are small compared to those of other insects. Therefore, their field of vision is not very wide For example, the binocular field of worker honey bees extends about 30º upwards, about 30 º down and about 40 º to the side. It's very small compared to how flies see.
So, unlike us, these insects see many small realities that, when added together, give them great insight into the world around them. This is how bees see, but what shapes and colors can they see? Let's see it.
The resolution of the bees' vision
Although they are one of the types of insects that see best, bees do not have as decisive a vision as ours. However, these insects can differentiate shapes, patterns and colors In addition, they have an extraordinary ability to memorize them and use them to guide them on their way to food or back to the nest.
These bugs can also detect radial or bilateral symmetry, which are very common in flowers. In fact, they have a preference for symmetrical flowers, a characteristic that indicates he alth in the plant and, therefore, good resources. They can also distinguish camouflaged objects and even human faces.
This resolution depends on your little eyes. In the honey bee, each ommatidium is different depending on where it is located in the eye. As a result, each region of the eye is specialized to receive some stimuli or others. Thus, the frontal region of the eye is specialized in visual acuity, so they observe more details in the objects in front of them.
As for the other regions of the eye, the dorsal is specialized for the perception of polarized light from the sun. It is a type of light that humans cannot see. For bees, however, it is very useful for orientation, knowing what time of day they are and even communicating with each other. Finally, the most ventral region of the eye is specialized for color detection. This allows them to more accurately see the color of objects below, such as flowers.
What colors do bees see?
To understand how bees see, it is essential to talk about color. The colors that these arthropods perceive also depend on each species. The familiar honey bee can appreciate colors ranging from orange to ultraviolet (UV). So they can see colors of the ultraviolet spectrum that we don't, but they can't see the color red.
But Why don't bees see the color red? As in humans, the vision of bees is trichromatic, that is, they see three primary colors. This is because the pigments in your photoreceptors can be sensitive to UV, blue, or green light. However, they do not have any type of pigment that absorbs light in the red spectrum. That is why European honey bees do not see this color.
These differences in the colors that bees see have an explanation. Many flowers display a series of ultraviolet patterns that form a pathway to precious nectar. They lead the bees to their food, which is why they are known as "nectar guides". On the other hand, it is known that most bee species prefer purple or blue flowers which usually have more nectar. As for green, it is very necessary to contrast the color of the flowers with the green of the rest of the plant.
Finally, it is noteworthy that some species of bees can see colors from the red spectrum. In fact, it is known that some of them have a preference for red flowers This occurs in species endemic to some islands, where the plants have adapted the color of their flowers to pollination by birds, who prefer red flowers.
Do bees see at night?
The best known bees, like honey bees, are diurnal insects and do not see very well at night. However, there are nocturnal bees that have adapted to live at night. Their eyes present some differences with those of diurnal bees. This is a strategy to avoid predation and competition for resources.
The existence of these nocturnal bees has only been documented in tropical or subtropical areas. In these dense forest locations they pollinate a series of flowers that open at night The best-known example is the Indian carpenter bee (Xylocopa tranquebarica), who only comes out at night.
Some diurnal bees can see at twilight. This is the case of many species of bumblebees, which usually gather food until nightfall. In addition, there are bees that are crepuscular An example is the sweat bee (Megalopta genalis), which lives in very closed tropical forests in America. This insect is active for two very short periods of time: just after sunset and shortly before sunrise.
Finally, some diurnal species may forage at night when the moon is full or nearly full. These flying insects can come out at night, but only when there is enough light, like the giant Asian honey bee (Apis dorsata). Therefore, answering the question about how bees see is very complex, since it is a very diverse group that has adapted to living in very different habitats and even light conditions. As a result, their eyes and vision are different in each species.
