Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
InsectPollinatorSocial Insect
A worker honey bee carrying pollen on bird cherry blossom in Keila, northwestern Estonia.
Image: Ivar Leidus, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Overview
The western honey bee (Apis mellifera) is a social bee native to Europe, Africa and western Asia, including the Middle East. Carried by people to other continents from the 1600s, it now lives on every continent except Antarctica and is the most commonly domesticated bee in the world.
It is a hairy bee with two pairs of wings and a slender waist, usually brown or reddish-brown with a banded abdomen; workers carry pollen in baskets on their hind legs. The three castes differ: workers are 10–15 mm long, drones 15–17 mm with large eyes that meet on top of the head, and queens 18–20 mm, with wings that cover only about two-thirds of the abdomen.
Only females can sting. A worker's barbed sting tears away from her body when used, a queen's has fewer and shorter barbs, and drones have no sting at all. The species has at least 20 recognized subspecies, which can differ in color, tongue length, wingspan and defensiveness.
Habitat & Range
Honey bees prefer places where flowering plants are plentiful — meadows, open woodland and gardens — but can survive in grasslands, deserts and wetlands with enough water, food and shelter. A colony nests in an enclosed cavity such as a tree hollow or small cave; feral swarms also settle in places like house walls and mailboxes. In Australia, where the species is introduced, feral colonies occur throughout the country, in towns, forests, woodlands and heath.
Diet
Adults feed on nectar and pollen from flowers and on honey, which the colony makes from nectar through enzymes and evaporation; workers also collect honeydew, the sugary liquid excreted by sap-feeding insects such as aphids. Larvae are fed secretions from young workers' head glands — royal or worker jelly — with pollen and nectar, and a female larva given copious royal jelly develops into a queen rather than a worker.
Behavior
Honey bees are eusocial. A colony normally has one egg-laying queen, thousands of sterile female workers — up to about 60,000 — and, in late spring and summer, several hundred male drones. Workers change jobs as they age, from tending brood to building comb, handling food and guarding the entrance, and finally to foraging; foragers use the waggle dance to tell nestmates the direction and distance of food farther away.
Workers forage only in daylight, on cloudy as well as sunny days, but not in heavy rain, high winds or extreme temperatures. They usually stay within 3 km of the hive and fly as far as 8–13 km when necessary; inside the hive, bees are active around the clock. In cold weather the colony forms a tight cluster, warmed by the bees' flight muscles, and lives on stored honey and pollen.
Human Interaction & Conservation
The western honey bee is kept for honey, wax and other hive products and for crop pollination: honey bees pollinate commercial crops worth billions of US dollars a year. Workers sting to defend themselves or the hive and die afterwards, and European honey bees rarely sting unprovoked. A single sting is painful but not dangerous unless the person is allergic to the venom, when it can be life-threatening.
Africanized honey bees stem from bees brought from Africa to Brazil in the 1950s, and are so called on the assumption that they would interbreed with European bees. When provoked, they tend to sting in greater numbers than European honey bees, and they have spread north to the southern United States. In Australia, some wild flowers that only native bees can pollinate have suffered from the presence of honey bees.
Reproduction & Life Cycle
Colonies reproduce by swarming, typically once or twice a year at the start of the main nectar season: the old queen leaves with part of the colony — up to half of the workers, about half of the bees or about two-thirds of the adult workers, by different accounts — and a daughter queen inherits the nest. About a week after emerging, the new queen flies out to mate with several drones in flight.
The queen lays all of the colony's eggs, up to 1,000 or 1,500 a day by different accounts. Unfertilized eggs become drones and fertilized eggs become workers or queens; development from egg to adult takes 15–16 days for a queen, 21 for a worker and 24 for a drone.
Lifespans differ by caste and season. Queens usually live 2–3 years, sometimes 5, and drones survive only 4–8 weeks and do not live through winter. Summer workers live a few weeks — 2–4 weeks by one account, about 6 weeks by another — while workers that carry the colony through winter can live up to 6 months or, by one account, up to 11 months.
Sourced facts
Each value below is traced to the specific reference that states it. Open a row's evidence to see the source, where to look in it, and how firmly it supports the value. Sources checked 2026-10-20.
| Fact | What the source states | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Distinguishing traits | A hairy bee with two pairs of wings and a slender waist, usually brown or reddish-brown with a banded abdomen. Workers carry pollen baskets on the hind legs. A queen's wings cover only about two-thirds of her abdomen; drones have large eyes that meet on top of the head.Only females sting: a worker's barbed sting tears away from the body, a queen's has fewer and shorter barbs, and drones have none. Color varies, and subspecies may differ in coloration, tongue length, wingspan and defensiveness. Africanized and European honey bees normally cannot be told apart by eye. Bee-mimicking flies have only one pair of wings. | Matches source · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, University of Florida IFAS Extension (Featured Creatures, EENY568/IN1005), Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of Delaware, Australian Museum, USDA Agricultural Research Service (Agricultural Research magazine) — how we knowAnimal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
University of Florida IFAS Extension (Featured Creatures, EENY568/IN1005)
Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of Delaware
Australian Museum
USDA Agricultural Research Service (Agricultural Research magazine)
|
| Geographic range | Native to Europe, Africa and western Asia, including the Middle East. Carried by people to other continents from the 1600s, it is now found on every continent except Antarctica, including the Americas, east Asia and Australia, where it is introduced.At least 20 subspecies are recognized, none of them native to the Americas: in the United States, European subspecies date back to settlers in 1622, and the African subspecies A. m. scutellata was introduced to the Americas in the late 1950s. Early European settlers brought it to Australia, where escaped bees now live wild in most southern states. ITIS lists it as introduced in Canada, the continental US, Hawaii, Mexico, and Caribbean and Central Pacific territories. | Matches source · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, University of Florida IFAS Extension (Featured Creatures, EENY568/IN1005), USDA Agricultural Research Service (Agricultural Research magazine), Australian Museum, Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) — how we knowAnimal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
University of Florida IFAS Extension (Featured Creatures, EENY568/IN1005)
USDA Agricultural Research Service (Agricultural Research magazine)
Australian Museum
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)
|
| Habitat | Flower-rich places such as meadows, open woodland and gardens; also grasslands, deserts and wetlands where water, food and shelter suffice. Colonies nest in enclosed cavities such as tree hollows or small caves.Feral swarms also set up colonies in places such as house walls and mailboxes. In Australia it lives in urban areas, forests, woodlands and heath, with feral colonies throughout the country. | Matches source · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, University of Florida IFAS Extension (Featured Creatures, EENY568/IN1005), Australian Museum — how we knowAnimal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
University of Florida IFAS Extension (Featured Creatures, EENY568/IN1005)
Australian Museum
|
| Diet | Nectar and pollen from flowers, and honey (stored nectar). Larvae are fed secretions from young workers' head glands (royal or worker jelly) with pollen and nectar; female larvae given a rich diet of royal jelly become queens. Workers also collect honeydew from sap-feeding insects such as aphids.Nectar becomes honey through enzymes and evaporation inside the colony. In Australia, honey bees forage on the flowers of many native and introduced plants. | Matches source · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, University of Florida IFAS Extension (Featured Creatures, EENY568/IN1005), Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of Delaware, Australian Museum — how we knowAnimal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
University of Florida IFAS Extension (Featured Creatures, EENY568/IN1005)
Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of Delaware
Australian Museum
|
| Body size | Body length: workers 10–15 mm, drones 15–17 mm, queens 18–20 mm.Workers are the smallest caste but have longer wings than drones; drones have a larger head and thorax than females; the queen's body is much longer than a drone's or worker's, especially while she is laying. One factsheet gives a size range of 1.3–1.6 cm without naming caste or measure. | Matches source · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, University of Florida IFAS Extension (Featured Creatures, EENY568/IN1005), Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of Delaware, Australian Museum — how we knowAnimal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
University of Florida IFAS Extension (Featured Creatures, EENY568/IN1005)
Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of Delaware
Australian Museum
|
| Lifespan | Varies by caste and season. Queens usually live 2–3 years, sometimes 5. Workers live 2–4 weeks in summer and up to 11 months over winter in one account, about 6 weeks and up to 6 months in another. Drones survive only 4–8 weeks and do not live through winter.sources disagreeIn the extension account the long-lived workers are those reared in the fall, which carry the colony through winter; it gives queens an average productive life of 2 to 3 years. Neither source separates managed from wild colonies. | Sources disagree · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of Delaware — how we knowWhat each reading says
For worker lifespans, one account gives 2–4 weeks in summer and up to 11 months for workers that live through the winter, while an extension account gives about 6 weeks in summer and up to 6 months for workers reared in the fall. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of Delaware
|
| Activity pattern | Diurnal: workers forage only in daylight, cloudy or sunny, but not in heavy rain, high winds or extreme temperatures; inside the hive bees are active around the clock. In cold weather the colony forms a tight cluster warmed by the bees' flight muscles and lives on stored food.Workers cannot fly below 10°C. In a US extension account the cluster forms when the temperature drops to 57° F and keeps the brood at about 93° F, and the queen's laying tapers off and may stop in October or November. Under subtropical, tropical and mild-winter conditions, egg laying and brood rearing usually never stop. | Matches source · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of Delaware — how we knowAnimal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of Delaware
|
| Social structure | Eusocial: each colony has one egg-laying queen, thousands of sterile female workers (up to about 60,000) and, in late spring and summer, several hundred male drones. Workers change jobs with age, from tending brood to building comb, handling food stores, guarding and finally foraging.The colony can be viewed as a single biological unit, or superorganism. In a queenless colony some workers lay unfertilized eggs, which become males. Foragers use the waggle dance to signal the direction and distance of food farther away, using the sun's position. | Matches source · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, University of Florida IFAS Extension (Featured Creatures, EENY568/IN1005), Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of Delaware — how we knowAnimal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
University of Florida IFAS Extension (Featured Creatures, EENY568/IN1005)
Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of Delaware
|
| Reproduction | Colonies reproduce by swarming: the old queen leaves with part of the workers; a daughter queen inherits the nest. Queens mate with several drones and lay all the colony's eggs, up to 1,500 a day (1,000 in one account). Egg to adult: queen 15–16 days, worker 21, drone 24.sources disagreeUnfertilized eggs become drones and fertilized eggs become workers or queens. A young queen flies out to mate about a week after emerging, after rival queens have been killed. Colonies typically swarm once or twice a year, at the start of the main nectar season. | Sources disagree · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, University of Florida IFAS Extension (Featured Creatures, EENY568/IN1005), Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of Delaware — how we knowWhat each reading says
Accounts differ on the queen's peak egg-laying rate (up to 1,000 vs up to 1,500 eggs a day) and on how much of the colony leaves with a swarm (up to half of the workers, about half of the bees, or about two-thirds of the adult workers). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
University of Florida IFAS Extension (Featured Creatures, EENY568/IN1005)
Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of Delaware
Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of Delaware
|
| Movement | Workers usually forage within 3 km of the hive and can fly 8–13 km for food or water. Swarms cluster on a branch until scouts find a new nest site; whole colonies may also abandon a poor nest, especially tropical honey bees during seasonal drought.The 3 km radius covers about 2800 hectares. A swarm's cluster usually stays for an hour or so while scouts search. Beekeepers call the abandonment of a nest absconding. | Matches source · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of Delaware — how we knowAnimal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of Delaware
|
| Human interaction | The most commonly domesticated bee, kept for honey, wax and crop pollination. Workers sting in defense, then die; European honey bees rarely sting unprovoked. Africanized bees, from African bees brought to Brazil in the 1950s, tend to sting in greater numbers than European bees when provoked.Spread far beyond its native range for pollination and honey, it pollinates crops worth billions of US dollars a year; hive products also include pollen, royal jelly and propolis. A single sting is painful but not dangerous unless the person is allergic to the venom, when it can be life-threatening. Africanized bees, so called on the assumption that the African bees would interbreed with feral European bees, have spread north to the southern US. In Australia, some wild flowers that only native bees can pollinate have suffered from honey bees. | Matches source · Australian Museum, University of Florida IFAS Extension (Featured Creatures, EENY568/IN1005), Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, USDA Agricultural Research Service (Agricultural Research magazine) — how we knowAustralian Museum
University of Florida IFAS Extension (Featured Creatures, EENY568/IN1005)
Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
USDA Agricultural Research Service (Agricultural Research magazine)
|
Not stated here, and why
- Body mass— no source accepted yet
- No accepted source read gives body mass for any caste: the ADW account, UF/IFAS EENY568, the two MAAREC pages and the Australian Museum factsheet give lengths only. Search results quoting masses were commercial or blog pages (not citable) or isolated research-paper tables, which were not read.
References for the facts above
- UniversityAnimal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of ZoologySupports: identification, native and introduced range, habitat, diet, body length by caste, lifespan by caste (conflicting reading), activity, social structure, reproduction (conflicting reading), movement, pollination, stings, Africanized bees. Retrieved 2026-10-20.Limitations: Student-written account (George Hammond, Madison Blankenship; Radford University), last updated 2009-04-13. Its data table lists 'Typical lifespan, Status: wild, 2 to 3 years', which repeats the queen's figure; not used as a species figure. 'Average gestation period 3 days', 'eggs per season 60,000 to 80,000' and the 'hibernation' behavior tag (the text describes a heated winter cluster) are not used. Its sting-toxicity threshold is not reproduced.
- UniversityUniversity of Florida IFAS Extension (Featured Creatures, EENY568/IN1005)Supports: native range and introductions to the Americas, naturalized range, identification, relative caste size, development times, larval diet, division of labor, reproduction (conflicting reading), hive products, stings. Retrieved 2026-10-20.Limitations: Profile of 'European' honey bees in the United States (a complex of interbreeding European subspecies) by Mortensen, Schmehl and Ellis; its references date to 2013. The former Featured Creatures address on entnemdept.ufl.edu now redirects to the Ask IFAS series index; the profile is served at this URL. Its pollination figures (more than 30% of food; up to $15 billion of US crops) are stated for bees in general and are not used.
- UniversityMid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of DelawareSupports: colony composition and maximum size, queen and drone traits, body proportions, queen and worker lifespans (conflicting reading), egg-laying rate, mating, sex determination, larval diet. Retrieved 2026-10-20.Limitations: Extension page written for beekeepers in the US Mid-Atlantic states; no author or date shown. Regional timings (laying ceases in early October) are not used. Its larval capping ages (worker 5½, queen 6, drone 6½ days) do not match UF/IFAS's larval durations for workers and queens; neither is used.
- UniversityMid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of DelawareSupports: winter cluster and brood temperature, seasonal egg-laying, brood rearing in mild climates, swarming (share of bees leaving, swarm cluster, queen combat, mating flight). Retrieved 2026-10-20.Limitations: Text footnoted to a research entomologist of the USDA Science and Education Administration's Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, Tucson; written for the United States, with temperatures in °F. US swarming months are not used.
- UniversityAustralian MuseumSupports: identification (color, lookalikes), introduction to and distribution in Australia, Australian habitats, foraging on native and introduced plants, size range, domestication, effects on wild flowers. Retrieved 2026-10-20.Limitations: Factsheet written from an Australian perspective, updated 08/12/20. 'Size Range 1.3 cm - 1.6 cm' names neither caste nor measure. Its 'Danger to humans' section gives first-aid instructions, which are not reproduced.
- GovernmentUSDA Agricultural Research Service (Agricultural Research magazine)Supports: introduction of honey bees to the New World by European colonists, origin of Africanized honey bees as hybrids from bees brought to Brazil in the 1950s, their defensiveness, identification by eye. Retrieved 2026-10-20.Limitations: Feature article of March 2004 on Africanized honey bees in the US Southwest; its distribution statements ('as of January 2004') are dated and not used. Its control and removal instructions are not reproduced.
- ReferenceIntegrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)Supports: identity; jurisdictions where the species is listed as introduced (Canada, Caribbean territories, continental US, Hawaii, Mexico, Central Pacific territories). Retrieved 2026-10-20.Limitations: The jurisdiction field covers ITIS's North American and Pacific jurisdictions only; its geographic divisions (Africa, Europe and others) carry no native or introduced status.
Frequently Asked Questions — Western Honey Bee
Do all honey bees sting?
No. Only females — workers and queens — have a sting; drones have none. A worker's sting is barbed and tears away from her body when used, and workers die after stinging; a queen's sting has fewer and shorter barbs.
How long do honey bees live?
It depends on caste and season. Queens usually live 2–3 years, sometimes 5. Workers live a few weeks in summer, but those that carry the colony through winter can live for months. Drones survive only 4–8 weeks.
How many bees live in one colony?
A colony normally has one queen, thousands of workers — up to about 60,000 — and, in late spring and summer, several hundred drones.
Is the western honey bee native to the Americas?
No. It is native to Europe, Africa and western Asia, and none of its subspecies is native to the Americas. European settlers brought it to North America in the 1600s, and an African subspecies was introduced to the Americas in the late 1950s.
Sources and further reading
Authoritative wildlife references used for general educational context. Conservation status should always be verified against current IUCN Red List data. External links open in a new tab.
- UniversityAnimal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology — Apis mellifera (western honey bee) species account — identification, native and introduced range, habitat, diet, body length by caste, lifespan by caste (conflicting reading), activity, social structure, reproduction (conflicting reading), movement, pollination, stings, Africanized bees
- UniversityUniversity of Florida IFAS Extension (Featured Creatures, EENY568/IN1005) — European honey bee, Featured Creatures EENY568 — native range and introductions to the Americas, naturalized range, identification, relative caste size, development times, larval diet, division of labor, reproduction (conflicting reading), hive products, stings
- UniversityMid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of Delaware — Honey bee biology: the colony and its organization — colony composition and maximum size, queen and drone traits, body proportions, queen and worker lifespans (conflicting reading), egg-laying rate, mating, sex determination, larval diet
- UniversityMid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), University of Delaware — Honey bee biology: seasonal cycles of activities in colonies — winter cluster and brood temperature, seasonal egg-laying, brood rearing in mild climates, swarming (share of bees leaving, swarm cluster, queen combat, mating flight)
- UniversityAustralian Museum — Honey bee species account (Australia) — identification (color, lookalikes), introduction to and distribution in Australia, Australian habitats, foraging on native and introduced plants, size range, domestication, effects on wild flowers
- GovernmentUSDA Agricultural Research Service (Agricultural Research magazine) — Africanized honey bees (Agricultural Research magazine, 2004) — introduction of honey bees to the New World by European colonists, origin of Africanized honey bees as hybrids from bees brought to Brazil in the 1950s, their defensiveness, identification by eye
- ReferenceIntegrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) — Apis mellifera, TSN 154396 — identity; jurisdictions where the species is listed as introduced (Canada, Caribbean territories, continental US, Hawaii, Mexico, Central Pacific territories)