Abstract
Honeybees are insects that come under order Hymenoptera and family Apidae and showed complete metamorphosis. Honeybee species are characterized by particular functional traits that facilitate pollination services to a greater or lesser degree (Bluthgen and Klein 2011). Based on morphometric, behavioural and biogeographical studies, 26 subspecies have been identified (Ruttner 1988; Sheppard et al. 1997; Sheppard and Meixner 2003; Engel 2004; Arias and Sheppard 2005). Apis mellifera occurs naturally over different geographical areas, extending from Scandinavia in the north to the Cape of Good Hope in the south and from Dakar in the west to Oman in the east. According to varying climatic conditions, the population is adapted to the particular geographical region (Ruttner et al. 1978). The colonies of A. mellifera are found from sea level to 1000 m above sea level in temperate zones and from sea level to 3700 m in the tropics, and they also survive in extreme hot and arid zone conditions of Oman (Dutton et al. 1981). Apis dorsata is distributed in Pakistan, through the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka to Indonesia and parts of the Philippines in the east, and its distribution is similar to the dwarf honeybee. The rock bees from Nepal and the Himalayas have recently been reclassified as Apis laboriosa. However, it is not clear whether the rock honeybees of Sikkim and Assam in northern India, western Yunnan Province in China and northern Burma should be classified as A. dorsata or as A. laboriosa. Apis florea distribution is generally confined to warm areas, i.e. Pakistan, Iran, Oman, India and Sri Lanka. Its distribution almost ceases at altitude above 1500 m and is absent in north of the Himalayas. Frequently, it can be seen in tropical forest and cultivated areas. In contrast to all of the above, the distribution of Apis cerana was found more in tropical, subtropical and temperate areas of Asia, occurring in the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka in the west, through South East Asia, to Indonesia and the Philippines in the east. For ages, colonies of the oriental honeybee, A. cerana, have provided mankind with honey and beeswax, as well as furnishing invaluable service in the pollination of agricultural crops. Among all the Apis species, only A. cerana and A. mellifera are domesticated by man because of their hidden nesting habit. Behavioural limitations of the dwarf and giant honeybees, particularly their practice of open-air nesting, prevent their being kept in man-made hives for reasonably long periods, while hiving colonies in specially constructed containers is essential in that it enables the colonies to be manipulated.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abrol DP (2010) Foraging behaviour of Apis florea F., an important pollinator of Allium cepa L. J. Apic Resi 49(4):318–325
Ahmad R (1989) A note on the migration of Apis dorsata in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Bee Wrld 70:62–65
Arias MC, Sheppard WS (1996) Molecular phylogenetics of Honeybee subspecies (Apis mellifera L.) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequence. Mol Phylogenet Evol 5:557–566
Arias MC, Sheppard WS (2005) Phylogenetic relationships of honey bees Hymenoptera: Apinae: Apini inferred from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequence data. Mol Phylogenet Evol 37:25–35
Beeson CFC (1941) Book: The ecology and control of the forest insects of India and the neighbouring countries
Bluthgen N, Klein AM (2011) Functional complementarity and specialization: the role of biodiversity in plant–pollinator interactions. Basic Appl Ecol 12:282–291
Deodikar GB, Ghatge AL, Phadke RP, Mahindre DB, Kshirsagar KK, Muvel KS, Thakar SS (1977) Nesting behaviour of Indian honeybees III. Nesting behaviour of Apis dorsata Fab. Indian Bee J 39:1–12
Dukas R, Visscher PK (1994) Lifetime learning by foraging honey bees. Animal Behaviour 48:1007–1012
Dutton RW, Ruttner F, Berkeley A, Manley MJD (1981) Observations on the morphology, relationships and ecology of Apis mellifera of Oman. J Apic Res 20:201–214
Dyer FC, Seeley TD (1994) Colony migration in the tropical honeybee, Apis dorsata F. (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Insect Soc 41:129–140
Elekonich MM, Schulz DJ, Bloch G, Robinson GE (2001) Juvenile hormone levels in honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) foragers: foraging experience and diurnal variation. J Insect Physiol 47:1119–1125
Engel MS (1999) The taxonomy of recent and fossil honeybees (Hymenoptera: Apidae; Apis). J Hymen Res 8(2):165–196
Engel MS (2004) Geological history of the bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Revista de Tecnologia e Ambiente 10(2):9–33
Fletcher L (1952) Bee Craft 34(9):139–140
Franck P, Garnery L, Loiseau A, Oldroyd BP, Hepburn HR, Solignac M et al (2001) Genetic diversity of the honeybee in Africa: microsatellite and mitochondrial data. Heredity 86:420–430
Garnery L, Cornuet JM, Solignac M (1992) Evolutionary history of the Honeybee Apis mellifera inferred from mitochondrial DNA analysis. Mol Ecol 1:145–154
Gupta RK (2014) Taxonomy and distribution of different honeybee species (Eds) Beekeeping for Poverty Alleviation and Livelihood Security, pp 63–101
Hepburn HR, Radloff SE (2011) Honeybees of Asia. Springer, Berlin, xii + 669 pp
Hepburn HR, Smith DR, Radloff SE, Otis GW (2001) Infraspecific categories of Apis cerana: morphometric, allozymal and mtDNA diversity. Apidologie 32:3–23
Kahono S, Nakamura K, Amir M (1999) Seasonal migration and colony behavior of the tropical honeybee Apis dorsata F. (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Treubia 31:283–297
Kakkar KL, Sharma PL (1991) Studies on the role of honeybee, Apis cerana indica F. in the pollination of cauliflower, Brassica oleracea var. botrytis. Indian J Ent 53:66–69
Kapil RP (1956) Variation in the biometric characters of the Indian honeybee Apis cerana indica. Indian J Ent 28:440–457
Kerr WE (1957) Introdução de abelhas africanas no Brasil. Brasil Apicola 3:211–213
Koeniger N (1976) Interspecific competition between Apis florea and Apis mellifera in the tropics. Bee Wrld 57:110–112
Koeniger N, Koeniger G (1980) Observations and experiments on migration and dance communication of Apis dorsata in Sri Lanka. J Apic Res 19:21–34
Lipinski Z (2001) Essence and mechanism of nest abandonment by honeybees swarms. Blenam, Olsztyn, p 291
Liu F, Roubik DW, He D, Li J (2007) Old comb for nesting site recognition by Apis dorsata Field experiments in China. J Insect Sci 54:424–426
Maa T (1953) An inquiry into the systematics of the tribus Apidini or honeybees (Hyn.). Treub 21(3):525–640
Manjunath MG (2008) Studies on nesting behaviour of giant honeybee, Apis dorsata F. in Mysore, Karnataka. M. Phil, Dissertation, pp 1–103
Miguel I, Baylac M, Iriondo M, Manzano C, Garnery L, Estonba A (2011) Both geometric morphometric and microsatellite data consistently support the differentiation of the Apis mellifera evolutionary branch. Apidol 42:150–161
Moritz RFA, Hartel S, Neumann P (2005) Global invasions of the western honeybee (Apis mellifera) and the consequences for biodiversity. Eco Sci 12(3):289–301
Narayanan ES, Sharma PL, Phadke KG (1960a) Studies on biometry of the Indian bees III. Tongue length and number of hooks on the hind wings of Apis cerana indica F. collected from Madras State. Indian Bee J. 23:3–9
Narayanan ES, Sharma PL, Phadke KG (1960b) Studies on biometry of the Indian bees. 1. Tongue length and number of hooks on the hind wings of Apis cerana indica F. Indian Bee J 22:81–88
Neumann P, Koeniger N, Koeniger G, Tingek S, Kryger P, Moritz RFA (2000) Home-site fidelity in migratory bees. Nature 406:474–475
Oldroyd BP, Wongsiri S (2006) Asian honey bees: biology, conservation, and human interactions. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Oldroyd BP, Osborne KE, Mardan M (2000) Colony relatedness in aggregations of Apis dorsata Fabricius (Hymenoptera, Apidae). Insects Soc. 47:94–95
Paar J, Oldroyd BP, Kastberger G (2000) Giant honeybees return to their nest sites. Nature 406:475
Pant NC (1985) Bee keeping. In: Handbook in animal husbandry. ICAR, New Delhi, pp 692–711
Pudasaini R, Bahadur TR (2014) Foraging behavior of different honeybee species under natural condition in Chitwan, Nepal. Eur J Acad. Essays 1(9):39–41
Reddy CC (1983) Studies on the nesting behaviour of Apis dorsata F. In: Proceedings of the 2nd international conference on apiculture in tropical climates, New Delhi, pp 391–397
Ruttner F (1988) Biogeography and Taxonomy of Honeybees. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p. 284
Ruttner F (1992) Naturgeschichte der Honigbienen. Ehrenwirth, Munich, 357
Ruttner F, Kauhausen D (1985) Honeybees of tropical Africa: ecological diversification and isolation. In: Proceedings of the third international conference on apiculture in tropical climates, Nairobi, Kenya, 5–9 November, 1984, pp 45–51
Ruttner F, Tassencourt L, Louveaux J (1978) Biometrical-statistical analysis of the geographic variability of Apis mellifera L. Apidol 9:363–381
Ruttner F, Woyke J, Koeniger N (1972) Reproduction in Apis cerana: Mating Behaviour. J Apic Res 11(3):141–146
Seeley TD (1985) Honeybee ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton, p. 201
Selvakumar P, Sinha SN, Pandita VK, Srivastava RM (2015) Foraging behaviour of honeybee on parental lines of hybrid cauliflower pusa hybrid- 2. Standing Commission of Pollination and Bee Flora. http://apimondiafoundation.org/foundation/files/070.pdf
Sharma HFA (2014) The foraging behaviour of honey bees, Apis mellifera: a review. Veterinarni Medicina 59(1):1–10
Sharma AK, Dhaliwal HS, Kakar KL (1974) Insect visitors and pollinators of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) seed crop bloom Himachal. J Agril Res 2:74–78
Sheppard WS (1989) A history of the introduction of Honeybee races into the United States. Am Bee J 129:617–619
Sheppard WS, Meixner MD (2003) Apis mellifera pomonella, a new honey bee subspecies from Central Asia. Apidologie 34:367–375
Sheppard WS, Arias MC, Meixner MD, Grech A (1997) Apis mellifera ruttneri, a new honey bee subspecies from Malta. Apidologie 28:287–293
Sheppard WS, Meixner MD, Hepparda WSS, Eixnera MDM (2003) Apis mellifera pomonella, a new Honeybee subspecies from Central Asia. Apidol 34:376–375
Singh S (1962) Beekeeping in India: 1–214. Indian Council of Agriculture Research, New Delhi
Singh MM (2008) Foraging behaviour of the Himalayan honeybee (Apis cerana F.) on flowers of Fagopyrum esculentum M. and its impact on grain quality and yield. Ecoprint 15:37–46
Sinha SN, Chakrabarti AK (1980) Bee pollination and its impact on cauliflower seed production. In: Proceedings of the second international conference on apiculture in tropical climates, New Delhi, Feb 29th–Mar 4th, 1980, pp 513–527
Tan NQ (2007) Biology of Apis dorsata in Vietnam. Apidol 38:221–229
Thakur ML (1991) Honey and the Honeybees. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun
Thapa R, Wongsiri S, Oldroyd BP, Prawan S (2000). Migration of Apis dorsata in northern Thailand. In: Proceedings of the 4th Asian Apiculture Association conference, Kathmandu, pp 39–43
Tingek A, Mardan MB, Rinderer TE, Koeniger N, Koeniger G (1988) Rediscovery of Apis vechti (Maa, 1953): the Saban honeybee. Apidologie 19:97–102
Underwood BA (1990) Seasonal nesting cycle and migration patterns of the Himalayan honeybee Apis laboriosa. Natl Geogr Res 6:276–290
Vaudo AD, Ellis JD, Cambray GA, Hills M (2012) Honey bee (Apis mellifera capensis/A. M. scutellata hybrid) nesting behavior in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. J South Africa 59(3):323–331
Venkatesh G, Reddy CC (1989) Rates of swarming and absconding in the giant honey bee, Apis dorsata F. Proc Indian Acad Sci 98:425–430
Wealth of India (1988) Honeybees, 75–101pp
Woyke J, Wilde J, Wilde M (2000) Swarming, migrating and absconding of Apis dorsata colonies. In: Proceeding of the 7th international conference on tropical bees, management and diversity and 5th Asian Apicultural Association Conference, 19–25 March 2000, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Woyke J, Wilde J, Wilde M (2001). Swarming, migration and absconding of Apis dorsata colonies. In: Proceedings of the 7th international conference on apiculture in tropical climates, Chiang Mai, pp 183–188
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Yadav, S., Kumar, Y., Jat, B.L. (2017). Honeybee: Diversity, Castes and Life Cycle. In: Omkar (eds) Industrial Entomology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3304-9_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3304-9_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-3303-2
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-3304-9
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)