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honeybee
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A honey bee (Apis mellifera) on a wax comb next to a queen bee cup filled with white royal jelly. bee diversity infographic Labeled diagram of a worker honeybee in side view, showing body parts such as antenna, wings, legs, mouthparts, stinger, pollen basket, and internal organs like heart, aorta, nerve cord, and honey stomach. Africanized honeybee and European honeybee Illustration showing three honeybees (Apis mellifera) side by side for size comparison: a small worker bee, a larger queen bee with an elongated abdomen, and a robust drone bee with a broader body. All Hail the Queens Diagram showing the life cycle of a honeybee, with stages from egg, larva, and pupa to adult emerging from a honeycomb cell. A queen bee lays an egg, a worker bee feeds the larva, and the adult bee emerges on day 21.
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honeybee
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A honey bee (Apis mellifera) on a wax comb next to a queen bee cup filled with white royal jelly.
Queen bee A western honeybee (Apis mellifera) queen standing beside a wax cup with royal jelly in her hive.

honeybee

insect
Also known as: Apini, honey bee
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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honeybee, (tribe Apini), any of a small group of social bees that make honey. The tribe comprises a single genus —Apis—of which there are seven species. The term honeybee is commonly applied to a single species, Apis mellifera, the familiar and economically important western honeybee. Taxonomy See also list of ants, bees, and wasps. All honeybees are eusocial insects and live together in cooperative nests or hives. The honeybee is remarkable for the dancing movements...

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