honey bee
Insecta (Hexapoda) > Hymenoptera > Apidae
Apis mellifera Linnaeus
Host: Elliott's blueberry Vaccinium elliottii Chapman
Photographer: Jerry A. Payne, USDA Agricultural Research Service
Descriptor: Adult(s)
Location: Georgia, United States

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:
Jerry A. Payne, USDA Agricultural Research Service, http://www.forestryimages.org
Image Use:
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