Basic Honey Bee Information

The honey bee (Apis mellifera) is an insect species which lives in colonies usually consisting of one queen, thousands of workers and a variable number of drones. New colonies are produced by swarming. The colony lives in a nest which in nature is usually located inside a hollow tree. The nest, or hive, is a series of vertical, two sided wax combs made up of hexagonal cells. The cells hold developing larvea, honey, pollen and/or bee bread (a mixture of about 75% pollen mixed with nectar).

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The main food of honey bees is pollen and nectar collected from flowers. Honey bees are native to Africa, Europe (except northern part) and Near East. They were introduced to Asia, both American continents and Australia. Domesticated honey bees are kept in hives. They are important economically as pollinators of crops and producers of honey.