Honeybees are a subset of bees which represent a far smaller fraction of bee diversity than most people suspect; of the approximately 20,000 known species of bees, there are only six to eleven species (depending on the authority) within the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis, and all of which produce and store honey to some degree.
Honeybees as a group appear to have their center of origin in Southeast Asia (including the Philippines), as all but one of the extant species are native to that region.
Four species have historically been cultured for or robbed of honey by humans: Apis mellifera (Western honeybee), Apis florea (Dwarf honeybee/little bee), Apis cerana and Apis dorsata. Two of these species have been domesticated, one (Apis mellifera) at least since the time of the building of the Egyptian pyramids.
Apis mellifera, the most commonly domesticated species, probably originated in Tropical Africa and spread from there to Northern Europe and East into Asia. It is also called the Western honeybee. There are many sub-species that have adapted to the environment of their geographic and climatic area. Behavior, color and anatomy can be quite different from one sub-species or race to another. In 1622, first European colonists brought the sub-species Apis mellifera mellifera to the Americas. Many of the crops that depend on honeybees for pollination have also been imported since colonial times. Escaped swarms (known as wild bees, but actually feral) spread rapidly as far as the Great Plains, usually preceding the colonists. The Native Americans called the honeybee "the white man's fly." Honeybees did not naturally cross the Rocky mountains; they were carried by ship to California in the early 1850s.
The honeybee is a colonial insect that is often maintained, fed, and transported by beekeepers. Honeybees collect nectar and store it as honey in their hives. Nectar and honey provide the energy for the bees' flight muscles and for heating the hive during the winter period. Honeybees also collect pollen which supplies protein and fat for bee brood to grow. Centuries of selective breeding by humans has created honeybees that produce far more honey than the colony needs. Beekeepers, also known as "apiarists", harvest the honey.
Like other eusocial bees, a colony generally contains one breeding female, or "queen"; a few thousand males, or "drones"; and a large population of sterile female workers. The female workers mature from nurse bees to become foragers. The foragers die usually when their wings are worn out after approximately 500 miles of flight. Honeybee wings beat at a constant rate of 230 beats per second or 13,800 beats/minute. The frequency of the wing beats was much higher than expected for an insect of this size. Honeybees make up for carrying heavier loads or for changes in air density by altering the amplitude of their wings and catching more air. This makes the wing muscles work harder, but it does not change the frequency of the wing beats. The science of bee flight remained an unsolved mystery until December of 2005. A study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science details the work supervised by Michael Dickinson from Caltech.
The population of a healthy hive in mid-summer can average between 40,000 and 80,000 bees. The workers cooperate to find food and are widely believed to use a pattern of "dancing" (known as the bee dance or waggle dance) to communicate with each other.
Honeybees are a subset of bees which represent a far smaller fraction of bee diversity than most people suspect; of the approximately 20,000 known species of bees, there are only six to eleven species (depending on the authority) within the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis, and all of which produce and store honey to some degree.
