Common Name: Honey bee
Scientific Name: Apis mellifera Linnaeus
Order: Hymenoptera
Honey bees are somewhat variable in color
but are some shade of black, brown or brown intermixed with yellow. They have dense hairs on the pronotum and sparser hair on the abdomen. Microscopically, at least some of the body hairs of bees (Apoidea) are branched (pumose). The abdomen often appears banded. Larvae are legless grubs, white in color.
Worker bees are generally not aggressive (defensive) during foraging or swarming activities. However, when the hive contains developing larvae and pupae, they (particularly Africanized honey bees) will aggressively attack intruders to defend their colony.
When worker honey bees sting they leave the barbed stinger in the skin with the poison sac still attached. Each bee can only sting once, and this is fatal for the bee. Stings should be removed promptly to prevent injection of additional venom. Scrape the sting and poison sac away with a knife or fingernail in such a way as to avoid slapping or pinching the poison sac because this will inject additional poison into the skin.
