(Italian) Honey Bee Apis mellifera ligustica

Honey Bee showing pollen basket hairs
Italian Honey Bee
The Honey Bee is a pollinator of flowers, including fruit blossom and much of the food that humans and other animals eat as well as producing honey.
Those shown on this page are the subspecies Italian Honey Bee, the most usual bee in domesticated beehives and feral colonies in the UK.
Honey Bee
Honey Bee
Italian Honey Bee
Most of those shown on this page are workers, which have rounded abdomens. The queen is larger and with an extended, pointed abdomen.
Male Honey Bee
Male Honey Bee
Male Italian Honey Bee
Males, above, are squarer, more squat, with large eyes which almost meet in the centre of their foreheads.
Honey Bees watering
Drinking water or taking minerals.
Honey Bee
Busy Bee on bizzy
The honey bee is well-known for its structured and communicative social lifestyle.
Honey Bee face
Honey Bee face
The face
Honey Bee on flower
Black Italian Honey Bee
Honey Bee
Honey Bee with full pollen baskets
Some of the Italian Honey Bee subspecies appear black like the European Dark or Black Honey Bee nominal subspecies.
Honey Bees with honey comb
Honey Bee with full pollen baskets
Honey Bees on hive
Each worker has a specific task according to age: the younger ones clean the honeycomb and nest, they then graduate to feeding nectar/pollen mix (honey and royal jelly) to the queen and the larvae and finally graduate to collecting nectar and pollen from plants, often some miles away from the colony. They communicate food sources' location to others by a "waggledance."