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Western Honey Bee

Insects

The western honey bee is the most common of the seven to twelve species of honey bee worldwide and one of the first insects ever domesticated, remaining the primary species kept by beekeepers for both honey production and crop pollination. It is eusocial, forming colonies of tens of thousands of bees around a single fertile queen, many non-reproductive worker females and a smaller number of fertile drone males, with colony activity coordinated through pheromones and the waggle dance. With human assistance it now occupies every continent except Antarctica, though it is threatened by pests and disease, especially the Varroa mite and colony collapse disorder, and was assessed as data deficient on the IUCN Red List as of 2025.

Facts

Classification

Diet

Herbivore 1

System (Realm)

Terrestrial 2

Relationship to People

Domesticated 3

Living or Extinct

Yes 3

Derived from this species' own Conservation Status: this atlas's IUCN category list has no Extinct value, so a set conservation-status is itself evidence of living status.

Scientific Name

Apis mellifera 3

Conservation Status

Data Deficient 3

Activity Pattern

Diurnal 1

Comparison

NatureServe Rank

GNR Unranked 4

CITES Appendix

Not Listed 1

Connections

Child Taxon Of

Source Catalogue of Life

In Biome

Source Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology: Animal Diversity Web: Apis mellifera

Source Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology: Animal Diversity Web: Apis mellifera

In the Other Atlases

Found In

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Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Trinidad and Tobago

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Sources

1. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology: Animal Diversity Web: Apis mellifera

Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology

Key Behaviors
Key Behaviors flies diurnal diurnal motile motile hibernation hibernation social social colonial colonial
Primary Diet, Apis mellifera
Primary Diet herbivore herbivore
Conservation Status: CITES
CITES No special status
In Biome: Desert, Habitat Regions, biome: desert or dune
desert or dune desert or dune
In Biome: Chaparral, Habitat Regions, biome: chaparral
chaparral chaparral

View the Source

2. GBIF Species API

GBIF Species API

System (Realm): Terrestrial

View the Source

3. Western honey bee - Wikipedia

Taxobox, binomial name
Apis mellifera
Conservation status box
Data Deficient
human-interaction (MediaWiki batch-API article extract states it plainly)
The western honey bee was one of the first domesticated insects, and it is the primary species maintained by beekeepers to this day for both its honey production and pollination activities.

View the Source

4. NatureServe Explorer: Apis mellifera

NatureServe ExplorerGlobal rank (roundedGRank)

Quote, Global rank (roundedGRank)

"roundedGRank": "GNR"

View the Source

Wikidata: Western Honey Bee

Wikidata Q30034, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source

Western Honey Bee (Wikidata)

WikidataWikidata Q30034 (P1034 main food source): nectar

Quote, Wikidata Q30034 (P1034 main food source): nectar

Main food source (Wikidata property P1034): nectar.

View the Source

Catalogue of Life

Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of LifeChild Taxon Of: HymenopteraView the Source

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