Day 3: Honeybees (Apis mellifera)
Honeybees are about 15mms long and can be found in every country save for Antarctica, and are the most common bee in the world. They enjoy wooded areas to build their large hives.
They are social bees and are mostly indifferent to humans. If you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you. It is unlikely for them to sting you if you leave them alone.
These guys have brown bodies and a sort of hourglass shape to their bodies. Their thorax’s are long and pointy and have alternating dark brown, light brown, red, and yellow stripes.
As you may be able to guess, these guys create lots of honey. But not only that, they pollinate an estimated amount of 20 billion dollars worth of crops a year.
Like most bees, these guys have many variations. Above is the Western Honey bee (apis mellifera) as previously mentioned, these guys are the main kind of honeybee.
This guy is the Italian Honey Bee (apis mellifera ligustica) and is found all over the world
This is the Russian Honey Bee (apis mellifera artemisia) and are known for being able to withstand harsh, cold climates. They originate from the Promorsky Region of Russia.
This is the Carniolan Honeybee (apis mellifera carnica) these guys are found in Slovenia, southern Austria, parts of Albania, Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and North-East Italy.
This is the Buckfast Honeybee (apis mellifera buckfast) It is the crossing between an Italian Honeybee and a Western Honeybee.
This is the Caucasian Honeybee (apis mellifera caucasia) These guys are found in eastern Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
