Understanding the Eye Count of a Bee

Bees are amazing creatures that play an important role in pollinating plants and maintaining the balance of ecosystems. But have you ever wondered what these tireless insects look like on the inside? In this article, we'll examine how many eyes bees have and what they tell us about their survival and behaviour.

Anatomy of a bee's eye.

So, how many eyes does a bee have? A bee has five eyes 2 compound eyes and 3 simple eyes. This may seem like a small number compared to other insects, but each of these eyes serves a specific purpose and plays an important role in the survival of bees.

Compound eyes:

Located on either side of the head

It contains thousands of tiny light-sensing units called ommatidia.

It is responsible for providing the bees with a wide field of view, allowing them to detect movement and light direction.

These eyes can also detect colour, which is important for foraging and locomotion.

Simple eyes (Osily):

fall over their heads

It is responsible for detecting the intensity of light, but it does not provide a detailed picture of the fly.

These eyes are used by bees to detect changes in sunlight and changes in light intensity.

This allows them to return to their hive even in low light conditions.

They also play a major role in keeping bees oriented towards the sun, helping them track their position in relation to the hive and navigate to different flowers.

The importance of bee eyes

The wide field of view provided by compound eyes allows bees to move around their environment and find flowers to feed on. The ability to detect movement and color is important for foraging and locomotion.

They can easily spot a flower from a distance and fly straight to it.  This is a crucial adaptation for an insect that must maximise its time spent foraging, especially given that blooms are frequently dispersed and not always in the same location.

On the other hand, the bee uses just its eyes to navigate in relation to the sun and recognise variations in light intensity. This allows them to return to their hive even in low light conditions.

These simple eyes, also known as ocelli, are located on top of the bee's head and are responsible for detecting the intensity of light, but they do not provide the bee with a detailed picture. This is vital to the survival of bees, as they must return to their hive to collect nectar and pollen.

Bees also utilise the sun as a compass for navigation. The eye helps the bee to maintain a constant orientation towards the sun. This is important because it allows the bees to find their location relative to the hive and navigate to different flowers.