Apis mellifera

Taxonomy

Family: Apidae
Subfamily: Apinae
Tribe: Apini Latreille, 1802
Genus: Apis Linnaeus, 1758
Subgenus: Apis (Apis) Linnaeus, 1758
Species: Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758
Common names: western honey bee, European honey bee, common honey bee

Overview

Apis mellifera is one of the best known and most studied insects worldwide. It is found worldwide due to human introductions outside its natural range for beekeeping. The species is also commercially exploited for products such as honey, wax, and propolispropolis:
a red or brown resinous substance collected by honeybees from tree buds, used by them to fill crevices and to seal and varnish honeycombs
, and it is used for pollination of multiple crops. The average size of the workers as adults ranges between 10–15 mm long, fertile queens are larger (18–20 mm), and males (drones) can reach 15–17 mm of length at maturity. Workers of A. mellifera are usually reddish-brown (depending on the race, some are darker and some are lighter) and have dark bandsbands:
usually referring to bands of hair or bands of color that traverse across an abdominal segment
in the metasomametasoma:
the posterior part of the body
; the legs of the workers are dark brown.

Diagnostic characteristics

• Distal distal:
  place on a segment that is furthest from the place of attachment with the body
  abscissaabscissa:
  veins that help define wing cells
  of vein M in hind wing absent (Fig 7 and 8).
• Mesoscutum light to dark brown (Fig 10, 11, and 12).
• Forewing length between 7.5–10 mm.
• Drones without metabasitibial process (digit absent) (Fig 13).
• Sting apparatus with 10 lancetlancet:
  apical part of the first valvula [= the first valvifer, which originated from the appendage of the 7th gastral segment, has commonly been referred to as the triangular plate or gonoplac which basally, gives rise to the first valvula which is a long thin process. The basal part of the first valvula is the first ramus and the more apical part the lancet, which itself gives rise to the valvilli (or lancet valves)].
  barbs and 2–4 pairs of stylet barbs which are the vestigial form: very small (Jayasvasti and Wongsiri 1993Jayasvasti and Wongsiri 1993:
  Jayasvasti, S., and S. Wongsiri. 1993. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of honey bee - stings of six species ( Apis florea , Apis dorsata , Apis cerana , Apis koschevnikovi , Apis florea, and Apis andreniformis ). Honeybee Science 14: 105ndash;109.) (Fig 15).
• Distance from tip of lancetlancet:
  apical part of the first valvula [= the first valvifer, which originated from the appendage of the 7th gastral segment, has commonly been referred to as the triangular plate or gonoplac which basally, gives rise to the first valvula which is a long thin process. The basal part of the first valvula is the first ramus and the more apical part the lancet, which itself gives rise to the valvilli (or lancet valves)].
  to the first barb = 55.18 µm (Jayasvasti and Wongsiri 1993Jayasvasti and Wongsiri 1993:
  Jayasvasti, S., and S. Wongsiri. 1993. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of honey bee - stings of six species ( Apis florea , Apis dorsata , Apis cerana , Apis koschevnikovi , Apis florea, and Apis andreniformis ). Honeybee Science 14: 105ndash;109.) (Fig 15).

Host associations

As with all species of honey bees, A. mellifera is a generalist and visits a broad range of plants for food.

Nesting behavior

Nests of A. mellifera are found in cavities in trees or rocks as well as human constructions. Natural nests are composed of multiple parallel combs that are fixed to the roof of cavity with a uniform bee space in between.

The species has been domesticated and can be kept in human-made hives. The most common and broadly used is the Langstroth hive.

Diversity

There are multiple subspecies or races of A. mellifera, each of which is adapted to local geographic and climatic environments; in fact, there are between 26 and 29 subspecies of A. mellifera that have been proposed based on morphometrymorphometry:
from the Greek: &quot;morph,&quot; meaning &quot;shape,&quot; and &quot;metron,&quot; meaning &quot;measurement.&quot; Different schools of morphometrics are characterized by what aspects of biological &quot;form&quot; they are concerned with, what they choose to measure, and what kinds of biostatistical questions they ask of the measurements once they are made; such as configurations of landmarks from whole organs or organisms analyzed by appropriately invariant biometric methods (covariances of taxon, size, etc.) and in order to answer biological questions. Another sort of morphometrics studies tissue sections, measures the densities of points and curves, and uses these patterns to answer questions about the random processes that may be controlling the placement of cellular structures. A third, the method of &quot;allometry,&quot; measures sizes of separate organs and asks questions about their correlations with each other and with measures of total size. There are many others.</p
(Ruttner 1988Ruttner 1988:
Ruttner, F. 1988. Biogeography and taxonomy of honeybees. Springer, Berlin- New York. 284 pp., Sheppard and Weixner 2003Sheppard and Weixner 2003:
Sheppard, W. S. and M. D. Weixner. 2003. Apis mellifera pomonella , a new honey bee subspecies from Central Asia. Apidologie 34: 367ndash;375., Gupta 2014Gupta 2014:
Gupta, R.K. 2014. Taxonomy and distribution of different honeybee species. In: Gupta R.K., Reybroeck W., van Veen J. W. amp; A. Gupta (eds): Beekeeping for poverty alleviation and livelihood security Vol.1: Technological aspects of beekeeping. Pp. 63ndash;103.).

The subspecies of A. mellifera are typically divided into four major groups based on morphometrics, genetics, ecological, physiological, and some behavioral traits. Group A includes all the subspecies of Africa; Group M includes the subspecies of western and northern Europe; Group C includes the subspecies from eastern Europe, and finally Group O includes the subspecies from Turkey and the Middle East (Ruttner et al. 1978Ruttner et al. 1978:
Ruttner F., L. Tassencourt, and J. Louveaux. 1978. Biometrical-statistical analysis of the geographic variability of Apis mellifera L. Apidologie 9: 363ndash;381., Ruttner 1988Ruttner 1988:
Ruttner, F. 1988. Biogeography and taxonomy of honeybees. Springer, Berlin- New York. 284 pp., Garnery et al. 1992Garnery et al. 1992:
Garnery L., J.M. Cornuet, and M. Solignac. 1992. Evolutionary history of the honeybee Apis mellifera inferred from mitochondrial DNA analysis. Molecular Ecology 1: 145ndash;154., Frank et al. 2001Frank et al. 2001:
Frank P., L. Garnery, A. Loiseau, B.P. Oldroyd, H.R. Hepburn, M. Solignac et al. 2001. Genetic diversity of the honeybee in Africa: microsatellite and mitochondrial data. Heredity 86: 420ndash;430., Miguel et al. 2011Miguel et al. 2011:
Miguel I., M. Baylac, M. Oriondo, C. Manzano, L. Garnery, and A. Estonba. 2011. Both the geometric morphometric and microsatellite data consistently support the differentiation of the Apis mellifera evolutionary branch. Apidologie 42: 150ndash;161., and Gupta 2014Gupta 2014:
Gupta, R.K. 2014. Taxonomy and distribution of different honeybee species. In: Gupta R.K., Reybroeck W., van Veen J. W. amp; A. Gupta (eds): Beekeeping for poverty alleviation and livelihood security Vol.1: Technological aspects of beekeeping. Pp. 63ndash;103.).

Known invasives

The western honey bee has been introduced since colonization in the Americas and Australia as well as most of the Asian continent. This has been a matter of concern regarding native species of bees in the world because A. mellifera may compete for resources (forage and nesting) and introduce new parasites and disease. Although not fully proven, the competition between A. mellifera and other bees has been a matter of debate over many years, and it is still contentious.

Distribution

A. mellifera is native to Africa, most of Europe, and the Middle East, but has been introduced by humans to the Western Hemisphere, AustralasiaAustralasia:
biogeographic region that includes Australia, the island of New Guinea, and the eastern part of the Indonesian Archipelago
, and the rest of the world. The species has been recently introduced in commercial scale in the islands of Southeast Asia for exploitation purposes, which is possibly affecting the conservation of native species of honey bees as well as having a detrimental effect on native habitats (Koeniger et al. 2010Koeniger et al. 2010:
Koeniger N., G. Koeniger, and S. Tingek. 2010. Honey bees of Borneo: exploring the centre of Apis diversity. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu xix+ [i]. 262p., Engel 2012Engel 2012:
Engel M. S. 2012. The honey bees of Indonesia (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Treubia 39: 41ndash;49.).

​Distribution map generated by Discover Life -- click on map for details, credits, and terms of use.

References

Engel, M. S. 2012. The honey bees of Indonesia (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Treubia 39: 41–49.
 
Frank P., L. Garnery, A. Loiseau, B.P. Oldroyd, H.R. Hepburn, M. Solignac et al. 2001. Genetic diversity of the honeybee in Africa: microsatellite and mitochondrial data. Heredity 86: 420–430.
 
Garnery L., J.M. Cornuet, and M. Solignac. 1992. Evolutionary history of the honeybee Apis mellifera inferred from mitochondrial DNA analysis. Molecular Ecology 1: 145–154.
 
Gupta, R. K. 2014. Taxonomy and distribution of different honeybee species. In: Gupta R.K.,
Reybroeck W., van Veen J. W. & A. Gupta (eds): Beekeeping for poverty alleviation and livelihood security Vol.1: Technological aspects of beekeeping. Pp. 63–103.
 
Koeniger N., G. Koeniger, and S. Tingek. 2010. Honey Bees of Borneo: exploring the centre of Apis diversity. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu xix+ [i]. 262p.
 
Miguel I., M. Baylac, M. Oriondo, C. Manzano, L. Garnery, and A. Estonba. 2011. Both the geometric morphometricmorphometric:
from the Greek: &quot;morph,&quot; meaning &quot;shape,&quot; and &quot;metron,&quot; meaning &quot;measurement.&quot; Different schools of morphometrics are characterized by what aspects of biological &quot;form&quot; they are concerned with, what they choose to measure, and what kinds of biostatistical questions they ask of the measurements once they are made; such as configurations of landmarks from whole organs or organisms analyzed by appropriately invariant biometric methods (covariances of taxon, size, etc.) and in order to answer biological questions. Another sort of morphometrics studies tissue sections, measures the densities of points and curves, and uses these patterns to answer questions about the random processes that may be controlling the placement of cellular structures. A third, the method of &quot;allometry,&quot; measures sizes of separate organs and asks questions about their correlations with each other and with measures of total size. There are many others.</p
and microsatellite data consistently support the differentiation of the Apis mellifera evolutionary branch. Apidologie 42: 150–161.
 
Ruttner F., L. Tassencourt, and J. Louveaux. 1978. Biometrical-statistical analysis of the geographic variability of Apis mellifera L. Apidologie 9: 363–381.
 
Ruttner, F. 1988. Biogeography and taxonomy of honeybees. Springer, Berlin- New York. 284pp.
 
Sheppard, W. S. and M. D. Weixner. 2003. Apis mellifera pomonella, a new honey bee subspecies from Central Asia. Apidologie 34: 367–375.