Scientific Name Of Honeybee

Scientific name of Honeybee is Apis, though the name varies from type to type. Honeybees are considered to be eusocial flying insects that construct perennial colonial wax-made nests that store honey. They belong to the Apidae family. All the bees don't sting or produce honey.

Honeybees originated from Eurasia. There is a complex hierarchy between the bees, where the Qeenbees are at the top of their kingdom.

Key Terms- Honeybee, honey, Queenbee, Eusocial, wax, scientific name,Taxonomy.

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Taxonomy Of Honeybee

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There are 43 subvarieties of honeybees available worldwide. Though only eight of these species have been recognised. Here are the taxonomic details of the honeybees.

Honeybee

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Characteristics of Honeybee

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Here are the basic characteristics of Honeybees- 

• Honey Bees maintain a high level organization that includes the queen bees, reproductive males and workers.
• They communicate with deliberate body movements that can be considered as dancing.
• Contrary to popular belief, not all bees can produce honey.
• They are social insects that live as colonies.
• The honey bees can be counted as the largest pollinators.
• The wax-made honeycombs include a complicated formation.
• The usual lifespan of honey bees is 30-60 days.
• The honey bees have haplo-diploid sex determination, as they belongs to the Hymenopterans categories. 

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Life Cycle of Honeybee

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The Life cycle of honey bees take 16-24 days to complete depending upon their categories. Queen bees take around 18 days to mature, whereas the workers can take up to 24 days to mature. Overall, the life cycle of the honey bees can be divided into four steps- 

1. The Egg Stage

This is considered to be the first stage of a honey bee's life cycle. As Queen bees are the only ones that are able to produce 2000-3000 eggs in a day, they lay the eggs in upright positions in a single wax-made cell. The queen bees use spermatheca to fertilize the eggs. The female bees are born from fertilized eggs, whereas the male and worker bees are born from the unfertilized eggs.

2. The Larva Stage

At this stage the larva goes through a lot of changes. Apart from one specific larva, all the other larva survive on royal jelly followed by honey and pollen. That one larva that is fed only royal jelly, is brought up to be the Queen bee. Young workers are also called Nurse Bees as they feed other larvae and take care of them.

3. The Pupal Stage

In this stage the worker bees fill up the cells with wax and take care of the pupas. At this stage the pupa goes through a lot of physical transformations.

4. The Adult Stage

The mature bees come out from the pupal stage finally. This whole process takes 16-24 days depending upon their social differences.

Life Cycle of Honeybee

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Types of Honeybee 

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Though there are almost 43 categories and subcategories of honeybee, only eight types are scientifically identified and categorized. Here are the main types of the honey bees-

1. European Honeybee

These honeybees were first recognized back in the 1620s. Though they originated from Europe, Middle East and Africa mostly, the recent study proves that these bees can be seen in every continent apart from Antarctica. Here are the basic characteristics of these type of honey bees-

• Scientific name of these honeybees are- Apis mellifera
• They are usually 15-20 mm long.
• They are yellowish in color along with black stripes in their abdominal parts. 
• These species have gone through several complex interbreedings.
• They do not sting.

European Honeybee

2. Asiatic Honey Bee

This type of the honey bee originated in South and South-East Asia and was initially categorized in the 1970s. Here are the basic characteristics of the Asiatic Honey Bees-

• Scientific name of the Asiatic Honeybee is - Apis cerana.
• They look almost like European honeybees.
• These are stinging bees, though mostly non-aggressive.
• They are usually 10mm long.
• These types of honey bees are less hairy.

Asiatic Honey Bee

3. Red Dwarf Honey Bee

These kinds of honey bees originated from Thailand. Here are the basic characteristics of the red dwarf honey bees-

• Scientific name of the Red Dwarf Honey bee is- Apis florea.
• These are the smallest in size, and are around 7mm in length.
• They are reddish brown in color.
• These honey bees have white hair on their thorax.
• Red Dwarf Honey Bee can sting only once.

Red Dwarf Honey bee

4. Black dwarf Honey Bee

This type of Honey bee was categorized in the 1900s. Here are the characteristics of black dwarf honey bee-

• Scientific name of the black dwarf honey bee is- Apis andreniformis.
• This type of honey bee is very rare, and originated from tropical and subtropical regions.
• These are the darkest and smallest honey bees.
• They are mostly black in color and 6.5-8mm in length.

Black Dwarf Honey bee

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Uses of Honey Bees

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Here are the main uses of honey bees-

1. We get honey from the honey bees that have medicinal properties, and used for beautification and natural sugar.
2. Honey bees are responsible for pollination in plants, hence helping in balancing the ecosystem.
3. A lot of medicines are made from honey and honeycombs.

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Things To Remember

• Common scientific name of the honey bee is- Apis, though it varies from one kind to the other.
• The honey bees belong to the Apidae family.
• Honey Bees maintain a high level organization that includes the queen bees, reproductive males and workers.
• The life cycle of the honey bees can be divided into four stages- Egg, Larva, Pupal and Adult Stage.
• Honey bees are responsible for pollination in plants.

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Important PYQs Related to the Scientific Names

1. Edaphology is… (KCET 2007)
2. Read the statements given below and identify the incorrect statement… (KCET 2012)
3. Which of the following taxonomic categories of housefly is… (KEAM)
4. Bladderworm/cysticercus is the larval stage of… (NEET 1991)
5. Which one of the following is oviparous?... (NEET 2015)
6. Which one of the following statements about certain given animals is correct?... (NEET 2010)
7. Which of the following organisms possesses characteristics of a plant and an animal? (NEET 1995)
8. The scientist widely regarded as the triple crown of biology… (AMUEEE 2015)
9. Evolutionary history of an organism is known as…(NEET 2006)
10. Reason of diversity in living beings is… (NEET 2001)
11. The living organisms can be unexceptionally distinguished from… (NEET 1998)
12. Rauwolfia - serpentina belongs to… (KCET 2007)
13. An insect regarded as the greatest mechanical carrier of diseases is… (NEET 1991)
14. Metamorphosis of insects is regulated through hormones… (NEET 1991)
15. Classification of Porifera is based on… ( NEET 1991)