Western Honey Bee
Apis mellifera
Honey bees perform a 'waggle dance' to communicate the precise distance and direction of profitable flower patches to their hive mates.
- Scientific name
- Apis mellifera
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Hymenoptera › Apidae › Apis
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- decreasing
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Meadows, gardens, orchards, and open woodlands; essentially anywhere with abundant flowering plants.
- Diet
- Nectar for carbohydrates and pollen for protein and fats.
- Range
- Africa, Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Oceania
- Size
- 1.1 to 1.5 cm in length.
- Lifespan
- Workers: 6 weeks in summer, 4-9 months in winter; Queens: 2-5 years.
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Habitat loss, pesticide use (neonicotinoids), Varroa mites, and Colony Collapse Disorder.
- Safe to approach?
- Generally harmless unless the hive is threatened or the bee is physically pinched. If a bee lands on you, stay calm and wait for it to fly off. If stung, scrape the stinger out immediately with a flat edge to minimize venom release. Seek medical help if you show signs of an allergic reaction.
The western honey bee or European honey bee ( Apis mellifera ) is the most common of the 7–12 species of honey bee worldwide. The genus name Apis is Latin for "bee", and mellifera is the Latin for "honey-bearing", referring to the species' production of honey for the winter.
Photo: no rights reserved, CC0, via iNaturalist
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