honey bee
Insecta (Hexapoda) > Hymenoptera > Apidae
Apis mellifera Linnaeus
Photographer: Timothy Haley, USDA Forest Service
Descriptor: Feature(s)
Description: A colony of honeybees that had formed a on a tree limb that was in a very overgrown thicket and well protected from the elements. It is about one foot across and 1 1/2 feet deep.
The Western honey bee or European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is a species of honey bee. The genus Apis is Latin for "bee", and mellifera is Greek from meli- "honey" + ferre "to carry" - hence the scientific name means "honey-carrying bee". This is technically wrong, since honey bees carry nectar and produce honey. However, the name was coined in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus who in a subsequent publication tried to correct it to Apis mellifica ("honey-making bee"); according to the rules of synonymy in zoological nomenclature, the older name has precedence. Some people who are unaware of this still use the incorrect subsequent spelling. As of October 28, 2006, the Honey Bee Genome Sequencing Consortium fully sequenced and analyzed the genome of Apis mellifera.
Image Citation:
Timothy Haley, USDA Forest Service, http://www.forestryimages.org
Image Use:
This image may be copied and used, in whole or in part, for any non-profit, educational purpose provided that all reproductions bear an appropriate credit. Any commercial or other use of the image requires the written permission of the photographer or contact organization, and Forestry Images. |
