BEEKEEPING & DEVELOPMENT
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HONEY BEE
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Apis mellifera.
the most widely distribuled, widely studied honey bee species See also the Apis mellifera colony pictured
Apis mellifera fuves the
colonies of European origin housed in frame
Bast for Deekeeputd
HL
ATA
COLUTErTeS
on page 13
SPECIES ALL PHOTOGRAPHS THIS ARTICLE «NICOLA BRADBEAR (EXCEPT WHERE INDICATE
O1
SPECIES WHOSE NESTS HAVE PARALLEL COMBS '
Honey is harvested by man from honey bees and stingless bees All honey bees belong to the single genus Apis, and stingless bees belong to one of five genera of Meliponinae. Until aboul ten years ago beekeeping text books stated confidently that there were four species of honey bees:
Apis mellifera
d Apis cerana, Apis dorsata, Apis florea and Apis mellifera.
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During the last few years
currently recognised.
The most widespread species of honey bee Also the most widely studied Many beekeeping texts relate only to Apis mellifera (although this is not always stated).
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further species have been identified In response to requests from readers, the following item provides a brief introduction to the seven honey bee species
Apis mellifera, Apis cerana and Apis koschevnikovi all build nests containing a series of parallel combs. These species usually nest in cavities.
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This species of honey bee is native to Africa, most of Europe and the Middle East. It has been introduced by man to the Americas, Australasia and much of the rest of the world. Apis mellifera usually builds its nest inside an
enclosed space The nest consists of a series of parallel combs, and this nesting pattern is followed in the design of frame hives.
colony Housed ond freiite hive
—
Apis cerana builds a nest consisting of a series of parallel combs, similar to Apis mellifera, and
builds its nest within
a
cavity
There are many different races of Apis cerana, as could be expected from the wide range of habitats it occupies Bees of some of the races are the same size as some Apis mellifera However Apis cerana varies in size throughout its range, and tropical races are much smaller, with smaller colonies.
Other names: the Asian hive bee. Sometimes incorrectly named Apis indica Apis koschevnikovi
Other names the hive bee, the European bee, the Western hive bee. Sometimes incorrectly named Apis mellifica.
Other names: the red bee (this species was named for a short period Apis vechti).
cerana
1s
Hie asidit honey bee A haracleristic of Apis thal ona comb or frame, ie workers always face
upwards ut this way
EIGHT
Native to Asia between Afghanistan and Japan, and from Russia and China in the north to southern Indonesia Recently introduced to Papua New Guinea (see Newsletter 10, 1987)
There are many different races of Apis mellifera, some tropical, others temperate. The Africanized honey bees in South and Central America are descended from tropical African Apis mellifera. Different races of Apis mellifera have different sizes of individual bees and colonies. Generally Apis mellifera are regarded as the medium-sized honey bees, against which other species are judged as “large” or “small”
Apis cerana
Apis ceratia
Apis cerana
Identified only in Sabah, Malaysia.
The individual bees are slightly larger than Apis cerana found in the same locality, but otherwise the colonies are similar in size and construction. Known as red bees due to a reddish hue when clustering (see Newsletter 12, 1988)
Apis dorsata structure
colony
te
bees five an
and in a single comb
