Bee breathing bee fact Even though bees don’t have nostrils, lungs or gills, they breathe through 10 pairs of valves on their body. These valves, called spiracles, are located on the sides of their body; three pairs on the thorax, six on the abdomen and one pair hidden within the sting chamber. Though it may appear that the bee is panting, this motion is actually the bee drawing in air through it’s spiracles which is then vacuumed into a complex structure of tracheae and air sacs. Bees can suffo