We also explored a complication to the above hypotheses: harmonics. Our primary purpose was to test these two hypotheses. In this case, the wing acts as a stiff reactive element with respect to the fundamental wingbeat frequency. The alternative stiff element hypothesis is that the resonance frequency of the first longitudinal mode of the wings is far above the wingbeat frequency. Moreover, the type of wing flexion that is known to have beneficial aerodynamic effects is often perpendicular to the long axis of the wing, in the chordwise direction ( Mistick et al., 2016 Mountcastle and Combes, 2013). However, resonance can also be detrimental to flight, because driving a system at resonance potentially hinders control, especially the ability to modulate frequency away from the resonance frequency, which insects may need to maneuver. Thus, one possibility, the resonance hypothesis, holds that the wing resonances are matched to the wingbeat frequency. For example, it could increase stroke amplitude (as measured at the tip of the wing) relative to the excursion of this same angle as measured at the base of the wing, thereby mechanically amplifying the motion of the wing while permitting the muscles driving the wing to operate with lower strain. Flexion in this axis may be beneficial in certain scenarios. ![]() The lowest resonance frequency of the wings will be the first longitudinal mode of the long axis ( Fletcher, 1992). little energy is lost to internal damping). If you would like to receive future posts by email, please subscribe above.Driving a system near resonance can be beneficial because it is advantageous for energy transfer (i.e. ![]() If you have found this post interesting or helpful, please comment below and like/share on Facebook. The wing morphology analysis I carried out last year showed that the samples of bees taken from my colonies, ranged from between 80% to 100% of the profile of Apis mellifera mellifera. The results of the analysis are shown in the small windows at the bottom of the screen and can be printed out in a report. The software shows how these coordinates fit with the three main measures used for wing morphology analysis, against the normal ranges of different strains of honey bees. The next stage is to go into the analysis part of the CBeeWing software and to look at the coordinates produced. The three main measures that are used for wing morphology are cubital index, discoidal shift and Hantel index. It takes some time to learn how to do this but after a couple of samples the process speeds up so you can do a sample of 30 wings in about 15 minutes. jpg file from the scanner is opened in CBeeWing and the key points of the veins on each of the wings is plotted using the system. I tried free software for the analysis of honey bee wings but decided to buy the licence for CBeeWing from Cybis and to download it. This slide is then scanned at the highest resolution on my all-in-one printer to produce a. A glass microscope slide is placed over the wings and the sellotape is cut to size and labelled. These wings are placed carefully on a piece of sticky side up sellotape. The technique I use for wing morphology involves removing the right wing from a sample of around 30 bees from a colony. I decided then that I wanted all future queens to come from this colony. They were a pleasure to handle and they always appeared to be purposeful and effective in whatever they were doing. ![]() The rest of the season they flourished, they were very thrifty on stores during the winter and appeared to get going quickly as they went into the spring. None of my other bees did this or had this attitude! They seemed considered and organised and I’d swear they were watching my every move. In the evening they filled the entrance and looked out, so all you could see was a sea of little bee faces starring out of the small round hole. They had less colour on their abdomen and they behaved differently. I had five colonies at the time, but these bees were different. It would have struggled to fill a pint pot. Six years earlier, I caught a small swarm from my garden fence, here in rural Northumberland. Where did I get my native or near-native bees ? Using the software tool CBeeWing, colonies showed results which classified the samples as being between 80%-100% Apis mellifera mellifera. The results were a surprise, as it looked like my bees are native, or at least near-native anyway. In the spring of last year, I decided to investigate how native my bees were, so I conducted wing morphology on all of my colonies, a technique which involves measuring positions of vein intersections on the bee’s main wing. Wing Morphology – How native are my bees?
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