Honey bees belong to the Apidae family and mainly they are flying insects along with that they show the highest level of organisation. They are often involved forming large colonies with very complex hierarchies i.e. queens, reproductive male, workers, etc. The native place of honey bees is mainly Eurasia and also found in other continents by humans. It is believed that all breeds of honey bee produce honey and among them, the maximum amount of honey is produced by Apis mellifera. Mode of communication in honey bees is by dancing. They show their movement deliberately across its honeycomb by which to transport nectar and pollen to other worker bees. We all think that all honey bees sting but the truth is that only the female sting as the stinger is technically the ovipositor – or the egg-laying organ.Â
The scientific name of the honey bee is Apidae corbiculata.Â
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Clade: Corbiculata
Western/ European Honey bee – Apis mellifera
Asiatic/ Asian honey bee – Apis cerana
Red dwarf honey bee – Apis florea
Black dwarf honey bee – Apis andreniformis
Some of the common features of the honey bee are discussed below:
A. Their body is in segmented form and divided into stinger, legs, antenna, three segments of the thorax and six visible segments of the abdomen.
B. Their head consists of eyes, antennae and feeding structures.
Scientific culture of the honey bee is known as apiculture. As we all know that bees have their own ecological and economical importance. Honey is used as a source of food, medicine, cosmetic, source of antioxidant and many more. Because of these reasons, the culturing of honey is done. So in these practices, bees are kept under proper care and management and in return honey gives honey and wax. This practice of breeding of bees is done under proper apiaries where beehives can be placed for their proper growth and development.Â
1. Honey bees which lay eggs is known as:
Ans. Queen
2. Culturing of the honey bee is known as:
Ans. Apiculture
3. Area where honey hives are found is known as:
Ans. Apiaries
4. To which genus honey bees belong to?
Ans. Apis.
1. Write the Classification of the Honey Bee?
Ans. Classification of the honey bee is discussed below:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Clade: Corbiculata
2. Explain a Few Importances of Apiculture?
Ans. Some of the importance of apiculture are discussed below:
One of the major products of honeybees is wax and honey as it has its own commercial importance.
They help in the pollination process and they indirectly increase the yields of plants.Â
It is also used in various medicinal uses like in destroying HIV virus.Â