Bee Anatomy 101
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“The Silence of the Bees” incorporated
one tiny error. Hannah Nordhaus writes: “… microscopic
tracheal mites that set up shop in a honeybee’s feeding tube
and shorten its lifespan.”
I’m no honeybee biologist, but I was trained as an entomologist. “Tracheae” are the abdominal tubes that insects use to breathe. So it’s more likely that the mites colonize the tracheae, interfere with the insects’ ability to breathe, and thereby shorten their lifespans.
David Robertson
Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania
Editor’s Note: We regret the error.
I’m no honeybee biologist, but I was trained as an entomologist. “Tracheae” are the abdominal tubes that insects use to breathe. So it’s more likely that the mites colonize the tracheae, interfere with the insects’ ability to breathe, and thereby shorten their lifespans.
David Robertson
Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania
Editor’s Note: We regret the error.
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