ANIMALS – INSECTS – BEES – WESTERN HONEY BEE (APIS MELLIFERA)

Animals - Insects - Bees

Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

Scientific Classification:

Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Arthropoda
Class : Insecta
Order : Hymenoptera
Family : Apdae
Genus : Apis
Species : A. Mellifera

Description:

The Western honey bee or European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is a species of honey bee. The genus name Apis is Latin for "bee", and mellifera means "honey-bearing". It has a defined social caste system and complex communication behaviors, such as intricate dance routines to indicate food availability. It is frequently maintained by beekeepers for its honey product. This species is widely distributed and an important pollinator for agriculture, though it is currently threatened by colony collapse disorder. It is also an important organism for scientific studies on social insects, especially as it now has a fully sequenced genome.

The western honey bee is native to Europe, Asia and Africa. During the early 1600s it was introduced to North America, with other European subspecies introduced two centuries later. Since then, it has spread throughout the Americas.

Western honey bees evolved into geographic races as they spread from Africa into Eurasia, and 28 subspecies based on these geographic variations are recognized. All races are cross-fertile, although reproductive adaptations may make interbreeding unlikely. The subspecies are divided into four major branches, based on work by Ruttner and confirmed by mitochondrial DNA analysis. African subspecies belong to branch A, northwestern European subspecies branch M, southwestern European subspecies branch C and Mideastern subspecies branch O. These subspecies are listed and grouped in the sidebar. Regions with local variations may be identified as subspecies in the future; A. m. pomonella, from the Tian Shan, would be included in the Mideastern subspecies branch.

Geographic isolation led to adaptation as honey bees spread after the last ice age. These adaptations include brood cycles synchronized to the blooming period of local flora, forming a winter cluster in colder climates, migratory swarming in Africa and enhanced foraging behavior in desert areas.

Binomial Name:

Name : Apis mellifera
Taxonomist : Carl Linnaeus (Småland - Sweden)
Year : 1758
Subspecies : Many
Synonyms : Apis Mellifica

Conservation Status by IUCN:

Status : Not Evaluated, or not data available

Philatelic Issues

2001 – Uruguay – Bees Series

Issue information:

Country: Uruguay
Date: Septermber 12th, 2001
Printed: 15.000 Copies
Type: Complete 2 Stamp Series
Value: 2 * UYP 12 = UYP 24

Stamp: Rectangular
Size: All 35 mm. x 25 mm.
Perforation: Circular
Gum: Water Activated