Asian Honey Bee

Fascinating facts about the Asian Honey Bee

• A colony of the Asian honey bee is modest in size, usually containing only about 6,000 to 7,000 worker bees. This contrasts sharply with its European counterpart, which can grow to more than 50,000 individuals. The smaller workforce builds a multi-comb nest that can hold up to 100,000 cells, providing enough space for honey storage and brood rearing while remaining manageable for the limited number of bees.
• When a Japanese giant hornet attacks an Asian honey bee hive, roughly 500 workers swarm the intruder and vibrate their flight muscles. This collective effort raises the temperature around the hornet to about 47 °C, a level that is lethal to the hornet but still below the bees' own lethal threshold of 48-50 °C. The heat-based defence allows the colony to neutralise a dangerous predator without harming its own members.
• Asian honey bee nests are built deep inside cavities and feature a tiny entrance, a design that helps keep out rival bees and other intruders. Inside, the colony constructs multiple combs, creating a spacious interior that can accommodate several thousand workers. These well-guarded, multi-comb nests are capable of hosting around 6,000 to 7,000 individuals and can be found in a wide variety of natural and man-made environments across their range.
• Asian honey bees keep their bodies between 33 °C and 35.5 °C, even when the surrounding air swings from 12 °C up to 36 °C. It maintains internal hive temperatures with a precision similar to that of the European honey bee, using comparable mechanisms.
• In parts of its range, the Asian honey bee lives sympatrically with its close relative, Apis koschevnikovi. Their nests have small entrances, presumably to defend against invasion by individuals of another nest.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Asian Honey Bee

In the warm, golden light of dawn, the Asian Honey Bee stirs to life, its delicate form a blur of motion as it dances through the air with an elegance that belies its industrious nature. With each beat of its iridescent wings, it weaves a intricate pattern of purpose, driven by an ancient instinct to gather nectar and pollen from the vibrant blooms that surround it. As it moves through the world, this tiny, social creature leaves in its wake a trail of sweetness and abundance, a testament to the remarkable industry and cooperation that defines its very existence.

More insects and spiders to discover

Browse Feravox