About Apis mellifera

Apis mellifera, the European (or western) honey bee, is native to western Asia, Europe and Africa, but can now be found all around the world. The size of A. mellifera varies between 10-20mm and depends on their role (worker bees are 10-15mm long, queens 18-20mm and drones 15-17mm). A bee's food intake dictates its future role in the hive, and its life span: workers live 2-4 weeks in the summer or 11 months over the winter, drones 4-8 weeks, and queens 2-5 years.

Apis mellifera is a model species for social behaviour, and has an essential ecological role as a pollinator.

Picture credit (Creative Commons BY-SA 2.5): Andreas Trepte (http://www.photo-natur.de) 2009

Taxonomy ID 7460

Data source Uppsala University

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