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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps » Anthophila (Apoidea) - Bees » Cuckoo, Carpenter, Digger, Bumble, and Honey Bees (Apidae) » Honey, Bumble, and Digger Bees (Apinae) » Honey Bees (Apini) » Apis » Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) » Black Honeybee (Apis mellifera mellifera)
Photo#54294
Dark Honeybee, or Something Else? - Apis mellifera
Copyright © 2006 Chuck Entz

Dark Honeybee, or Something Else? - Apis mellifera
Encino, Los Angeles County, California, USA
May 27, 2006
Size: 1/2 inch

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Dark Honeybee, or Something Else? - Apis mellifera Dark Honeybee, or Something Else? - Apis mellifera Dark Honeybee, or Something Else? - Apis mellifera
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Contributed by Chuck Entz on 28 May, 2006 - 2:12am
Last updated 9 April, 2009 - 3:58pm

Moved
Moved from Honey Bee.
… Chuck Entz, 22 February, 2007 - 11:43pm login or register to post comments

Definitely dark Honeybee (Apis mellifera)
Wing venation and shape of urosternites are quite typical and leave no doubt. I ignored that other breeds than mellifera ligustica and m.scutellata existed at all in North America. Maybe this one descends from the first hives brought in California by the early Spanish settlers.
In my region, all "wild" colonies belong to this race (A. mellifera mellifera): we call it the "black bee" or the "german bee". Commercial beekeepers prefer A. m. ligustica or A. m. carniolica, or hybrids between them.
… Richard Vernier, 28 May, 2006 - 12:45pm login or register to post comments

 
Black Bees
Interesting! Around here all the news is about the Africanized "killer bees" that have made their way up here from South America- I've never heard of "Germanized" ones.
… Chuck Entz, 31 May, 2006 - 3:06pm login or register to post comments

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