[ noun ] social bee often domesticated for the honey it produces <noun.animal>
Honeybee \Hon"ey*bee`\, n. (Zo["o]l.) Any bee of the genus {Apis}, which lives in communities and collects honey, esp. the common domesticated hive bee ({Apis mellifica}), the Italian bee ({Apis ligustica}), and the Arabiab bee ({Apis fasciata}). The two latter are by many entomologists considered only varieties of the common hive bee. Each swarm of bees consists of a large number of workers (barren females), with, ordinarily, one queen or fertile female, but in the swarming season several young queens, and a number of males or drones, are produced.
They're more defensive and not as productive." The difference between the European honeybee, a companion of humans for the last 8,000 years, and the Africanized honeybee is like the difference between a domestic and a wild bee.
They're more defensive and not as productive." The difference between the European honeybee, a companion of humans for the last 8,000 years, and the Africanized honeybee is like the difference between a domestic and a wild bee.
They seem to be the honeybee equivalent of the cafe-bar in The Wild One where Marlon Brando hangs out with the boys. But these boys know their place, although such is the abundance of nature that only a tiny number ever mates a queen.
The Agriculture Department is imposing a federal quarantine affecting 19 states and other areas to help stop the spread of tiny parasitic mites that threaten the honeybee industry.
"In reality, the chances of being injured by an Africanized or any honeybee are far less than the chances of being hit by lightning," says a recent background paper on the bees.
It has been a long trail for the Africanized honeybees, descendants of 26 African swarms imported by researchers in Brazil in 1956 who were trying to develop more productive models than the traditional European honeybee.