Western honeybee
The Western honeybee, scientifically known as Apis mellifera, is a vital insect renowned for its role in pollination and honey production. As a key player in the ecosystem, these bees help facilitate the growth of plants by transferring pollen from one flower to another. The species is characterized by a complex social structure within colonies, comprising distinct castes: the queen, drones, and worker bees. The queen is responsible for laying eggs, which hatch into either workers or drones, depending on whether they are fertilized. Worker bees, typically the most visible, collect nectar and are equipped with stingers for defense. Originating from India, the Western honeybee now thrives worldwide, often residing in natural nests or managed hives maintained by beekeepers. While they face threats from colony collapse disorder, diseases, and predators, they are currently not classified as a threatened species. Their contributions to agriculture and biodiversity make them essential to environmental health.
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Western honeybee
The western honey bee is an important part of the environment for its pollinating and its honey production. The western honey bee pollinates flowers by taking the pollen from one flower and dropping it as it flies. The pollen helps to create more plants. The western honey bee is also famous for its honey production.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Genus: Apis
Species: Mellifera
The western honey bee is one of eight species of honey bee and the most common. The western honey bee begins its life as a fertilized or unfertilized egg within a large colony. After about three days the western honey bee hatches out of its egg. If the western honey bee was from an unfertilized egg, it hatches as a female worker, but if the western honeybee was from a fertilized egg it develops as a drone, or reproductive male. When larval, or young, western honey bees are very young, they are fed royal jelly by older worker western honey bees. This diet soon changes to honey and pollen. If a female western honey bee is fed royal jelly for a longer period of time she develops into a queen western honey bee. It takes a total of eight days for a western honey bee to mature. During this time the western honey bee molts, or sheds, its skin many times before spinning a cocoon around its body and pupating, or developing into its adult form. During all of the developmental stages of the western honey bee's life it lives within a tiny, honeycomb-shaped cell next to all of the other eggs. When the western honey bee pupates the opening of the bee's cell is coated with wax.
After pupating, the young western honey bee breaks down the wax door of its cell and emerges as either a young reproductive female, a drone, or a nonreproductive worker female. Each of these social positions is considered a caste within the caste system of the western honey bee's hive. In a caste system each individual belongs to a certain social group and is brought into the world to serve a certain purpose.
The one queen bee in each colony determines how many members belong to each caste. The queen does this by producing both fertilized and unfertilized eggs. The queen fertilizes some of her eggs by using the sperm she received during her one mating experience. Before forming her own colony, the queen left her birth colony as a young reproductive female to mate with a drone. After mating, the drone died, and the female began to build her hive.
Although a queen western honey bee may grow to be nearly one inch (2 1/2 centimeters) in length, the other western honey bees typically only grow to be about 3/4 of an inch (two centimeters) long. The western honey bee which is most commonly seen is the worker western honey bee. It spends much of its time collecting nectar from flowers. This bee has a black body with orange bands. It also has a stinger. The stinger holds venom which is used to protect the bee against predators. The drone western honey bee is larger than the workers and does not have a stinger. The largest of the western honey bees, the queen, is dark and has a long body.
Although the western honey bee may have originally been a native of India, it is now found throughout most of the world. Typically, the western honey bee builds its nest, which is called a hive, in a hollow tree, under a cliff hanging, or in cave entrances. Today many western honey bees are kept in artificial hives by beekeepers. The western honey bee is an important insect in the world mostly because of its honey production. The worker western honey bee's stomach turns nectar from flowers into a honey-like substance which is then regurgitated, or spit up, by the western honey bee into a storage cell. The honey is then used to feed the western honey bees during the winter. When the western honey bee is kept by a beekeeper, some of the honey is taken and used by humans.
The life span of the western honey bee varies according to the bee's caste. The queen western honey bee usually lives for between three and five years, while drones live only four to five weeks. Workers also have short life spans, living only about two months.
Western honey bees are threatened by a phenomenon called colony collapse disorder where the bees abandon their hives. Disease, parasites, and pestcide use also threaten the western honey bee population. They are also at risk from invasive species such as milkweed. Lizards, wasps, dragonflies, spiders, birds, and mammals like bears, armadillos, skunks, and raccoons are natural predators of the western honey bee. Despite these challenges, the western honey bee is not a threatened species.
Bibliography
“Honeybee.” National Geographic Kids, 2024, kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/facts/honeybee. Accessed 13 Apr. 2024.
"Honeybee.” Missouri Department of Conservation, 15 Feb. 2024, mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/honeybee. Accessed 13 Apr. 2024.