Summary ⁴

The western honey bee or European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is a species of honey bee. The genus Apis is Latin for "bee", and mellifera comes from Latin melli- "honey" and ferre "to bear"—hence the scientific name means "honey-bearing bee". The name was coined in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus who, upon realizing the bees do not bear honey, but nectar, tried later to correct it to Apis mellifica ("honey-making bee") in a subsequent publication. However, according...

Description ⁵

The honey bee is probably one of the best-known of all insects in the world (3); it performs a vital role in the pollination of flowering plants, including our crop species (4) . There are three 'castes' within a bee hive, a 'queen' (the reproductive female), the 'drones' (reproductive males) and 'workers' (non-reproductive females) (3). All three castes are broadly similar in appearance; the body is covered in short hairs, and is divided into a head, a thorax and an abdomen, the head features two large eyes and a pair of antennae. The thorax bears two pairs of wings above, and three pairs of legs below and there is a slender 'waist' between the thorax and abdomen (5). The queen has a much longer and slender abdomen than the workers, and the drones can be identified by their broader abdomens and much larger eyes (5).

Habitat ⁶

European honeybees prefer habitats that have an abundant supply of suitable flowering plants, such as meadows, open wooded areas, and gardens. They can survive in grasslands, deserts, and wetlands if there is sufficient water, food, and shelter. They need cavities (e.g. in hollow trees) to nest in.

Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; terrestrial

Terrestrial Biomes: desert or dune ; savanna or grassland ; chaparral ; forest

Wetlands: swamp

Other Habitat Features: urban ; suburban ; agricultural

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Franco Folini, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/livenature/6144882221/
2. (c) Bob Peterson, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/pondapple/12901405703/
3. (c) Max Westby, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/max_westby/235782167/
4. Adapted by kmarie333 from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apis_mellifera
5. (c) Wildscreen, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/2614773
6. (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31378211

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Atlas of Living Australia
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• BugGuide
• BugGuide
• CalPhotos
• CUIC Insect Images
• Entomology and Nematology University of Florida
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• INPN
• Maryland Biodiversity Project
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• NBN Atlas
• 日本のレッドデータ検索システム

Range Map

(c) Barcode of Life Data Systems, some rights reserved (CC-BY)

iNat Map