• Order: Hymenoptera
• Honey producing families are Apidae, Meliponidae and Bombidae.
• There are five important species of honey bees as follows:

1. Rock Bee

• Apis dorsata
• Hymenoptera: Apidae
• It is a wild bee species.
• They construct single comb in open (About 6 ft long and 3ft deep).
• They shift the place of the colony often.
• Rock bees are ferocious and difficult to rear.
• They produce about 36 Kg of honey/year/hive.
• The bees are the largest among the bee described.

2. Little Bee

• Apis florea
• Hymenoptera: Apidae
• They also construct comb in open of the size of palm in branches of bushes, hedges, buildings, caves, empty cases etc.
• They produce about half Kg of honey/year/hive.
• They are not rearable as they frequently change their place.
• The size of the bees is smallest among 4 Apis Sp. described. (smaller than Indian bee).
• They distributed only in plains and not in hills above 450 m.

3. Indian Bee

• Apis cerana indica
• Hymenoptera: Apidae
• Aka Asian Bee
• They make multiple parallel combs on trees and cavities in darkness.
• The bees are larger than Apis florae but smaller than Apis mellifera.
• They produce average 6 to 8 Kg of honey/year/hive.
• They are more prone to swarming and absconding.
• They are native of India/Asia.

4. Italian Bee

• Apis mellifera
• Hymenoptera: Apidae
• Aka European Bee.
• They also make multiple parallel combs in cavities in darkness.
• They are larger than Indian bees but smaller than Rock bees.

  

• They have been imported in India in 1962-1964 from European countrie (Italy).
• They yield on an average 35 Kg of honey/year/hive.
• They are less prone to swarming and absconding.
• These are reared on commercial scale and produce highest honey. Therefore considered best bee under Indian environmental conditions.
• After 2005, production of honey in India grown exponentially after the large scale rearing of A. mellifera.

  

5. Stingless Bee

• Melipona irridipennis
• Hymenoptera: Meliponidae
• Aka Dammer Bee
• Rearing of stingless bee is called Meliporiculture.
• Melipona (Trigona) iridipennis makes compact combs made of cerumen.
• Meliponidae constructs horizontal combs except Trigona staudingeri which has vertical combs.

- https://nbb.gov.in/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee
- The Insects - Structure and Function (4th Edition, 1998) – R.F. Chapman. Cambridge University Press
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apiary
- https://agritech.tnau.ac.in/farm_enterprises/fe_api_typesofhoneybee.html

• Order: Hymenoptera
• Honey producing families are Apidae, Meliponidae and Bombidae.
• There are five important species of honey bees as follows:

1. Rock Bee

• Apis dorsata
• Hymenoptera: Apidae
• It is a wild bee species.
• They construct single comb in open (About 6 ft long and 3ft deep).
• They shift the place of the colony often.
• Rock bees are ferocious and difficult to rear.
• They produce about 36 Kg of honey/year/hive.
• The bees are the largest among the bee described.

2. Little Bee

• Apis florea
• Hymenoptera: Apidae
• They also construct comb in open of the size of palm in branches of bushes, hedges, buildings, caves, empty cases etc.
• They produce about half Kg of honey/year/hive.
• They are not rearable as they …

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