Honey Bees 101

Honey bees are fascinating. On this page you will find a wealth of information to help you know more about them.

Scientific Classification

Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Clade: Corbiculata
Tribe: Apini
Genus: Apis
  Type species: Apis mellifera (western honey bee)

Species of Honey Bees:

Africanized Honey Bee

Africanized honey bees (known colloquially as "killer bees") are hybrids between European stock and the East African lowland subspecies A. m. scutellata; they are often more aggressive than European honey bees and do not create as much of a honey surplus, but are more resistant to disease and are better foragers. Accidentally released from quarantine in Brazil, they have spread to North America and constitute a pest in some regions. However, these strains do not overwinter well, so they are not often found in the colder, more northern parts of North America. The original breeding experiment for which the East African lowland honey bees were brought to Brazil in the first place has continued (though not as originally intended). Novel hybrid strains of domestic and re-domesticated Africanized honey bees combine high resilience to tropical conditions and good yields. They are popular among beekeepers in Brazil.

There have been two cases of found AHB in North Carolina; both were stowaways detected at ports, and were destroyed. From NC Extension,

“It is not a question of whether the AHB will be introduced to North Carolina—as they have in the past, and they almost certainly will at some point in the coming years—but a question of whether or not they will become permanently established in the state. While it is difficult to make any firm predictions of the final distribution of the AHB in North Carolina, it is critical that all residents of the state become aware of this possibility before they arrive and if they become established.”

Female Honey Bee Morphology

It can be identified as a female by both the number of divisions on its antenna and by its stinger.

A: Head

1: Gena, 2: Vertex, 3: Ocelli, 4: Antenna, 5: Compound Eye, 6: Feelers, 7: Proboscis

B: Thorax

8: Foreleg, 9: Femur, 10: Middle Leg, 11: Tarsal Claw, 12: Tarsus, 13: Tibia, 14: Hind Leg, 17: Hind Wing, 18: Forewing

C: Abdomen

15: Sternum, 16: Stinger (female only)

Common Apis mellifera Subspecies In North American Beekeeping

The most common honey bee in domesticated beekeeping within the U.S. is the western honey bee, Apis mellifera. While no honey bee is native to the Americas, there are a number of subspecies which have been introduced, and their characteristics and traits can vary. Currently, there are 31 recognized subspecies of the western honey bee. The most common and popular subspecies is the Italian honey bee, Apis mellifera ligustica. Other honey bees in the U.S. could include the Carniolan (A. m. carnica), Caucasian (A. m. caucasica), Russian (A. mellifera strain and hybrid), German (A. m. mellifera; rarely seen today as they fell out of favor over the last century), and Buckfast (A. mellifera hybrid).

Comparison of Bees and Traits

Italian Carniolan Caucasian Russian Buckfast German
Color Light Black Dark Gray Medium Dark
Gentleness Moderate High High Low-Mod Low-Mod Low
Spring buildup Good Very good Very low OK Low Low
Over-wintering ability Good Good OK Very good Good Very good
Excess swarming OK High Low OK Low OK
Honey processing Very good Good Low OK Good OK
Propolis Low Low High OK Low OK
Other traits Heavy robbing Low robbing, good comb builders Long tongue Brood rearing affected by flow, queen cells always present Supersedure queens produce defensive colonies Short tongue, nice white cappings

Facts for Trivia Nights

Bees have 5 eyes: They have two large compound eyes, one on either side of their head, and three smaller eyes, called ocelli, arranged in a triangle at the top of their heads.

Bees are insects, so they have 6 legs, which are attached to the middle section (thorax) of the bee, along with its four wings.

Male bees in the hive are called drones. Female bees in the hive (except the queen) are called worker bees.

Bees fly about 20 mph

Number of eggs laid by queen: 2,000 per day is the high

Losing its stinger will cause a bee to die

Bees have been here about 30 million years!

Bees carry pollen on their hind legs in a pollen basket or corbicula

An average beehive can hold around 50,000 bees

Foragers must collect nectar from about 2 million flowers to make 1 pound of honey. The average forager makes about 1/12 th of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime. The average per capita honey consumption in the U.S. is 1.3 pounds.

Bees have 2 pairs of wings

The principal form of communication among honey bees is through chemicals called pheromones

Bees are important because they pollinate approximately 130 agricultural crops in the US including fruit, fiber, nut, and vegetable crops. Bee pollination adds approximately 14 billion dollars annually to improved crop yield and quality.

"honeybee" or "honey bee"? Many people notice that dictionaries list "honeybee" as one word. However, entomologists use the two-word naming convention "honey bee”, which is the preferred spelling, though both are correct.

A honey bee’s brain measures just one cubic millimeter - about the size of a sesame seed. Although tiny, this is large when compared with the brains of other insects. A bee's brain is about ten times more dense than a mammal's brain, which may explain why, despite their tiny brains, they are very smart.

The Last Bee

After the last ee
had uzzed its last uzz,

the irds and the utterflies
did what they could.

ut soon the fields lay are,
few flowers were left,

nature was roken,
and the planet ereft.

- Brian Bilston, May 26, 2019