The honey bee is the most widespread species of honey bee, a eusocial social insect that lives in colonies organized in hives, each family having an average of 50,000 individuals, with specialized roles of queen, workers and drones. The body is between 12 and 15 mm long, covered with fine hairs that retain pollen and light yellow-brown color with dark stripes, adapted for efficient flight and nectar collection.
Habits
Honeybees are diurnal and highly social, spending most of their time collecting pollen and nectar around the hive, communicating through dances and pheromones to indicate food sources, and maintaining a rigid social structure, with specialized organs for feeding larvae, building combs, and defending the hive.
Reproduction
In early spring, the queen performs the fertilization flight and stores sperm for her entire life, then lays up to 2,000 eggs daily in honeycomb cells; the eggs hatch in 3 days, the larvae are fed honey and pollen for 4–5 days, then operculate and pupate in 12–15 days (workers) or 7–8 days (queens)
Distribution
Native to Europe, North Africa, and the Levant region, the bee has expanded its range to all continents (except Antarctica) through the activity of beekeepers, being naturalized in temperate, subtropical, and tropical regions due to its importance in pollination and honey production.
