30/04/2026
🐝 Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
📷 Canon EOS 7D + Sigma 105mm 1:2.8 DG Macro HSM
The western honey bee (Apis mellifera) is the most common of the 7–12 species of honey bees worldwide. The genus name Apis is Latin for ‘bee’ and mellifera is the Latin for ‘honey-carrying’.
The striped abdomen is formed of six visible sections, each of which is dotted with tiny openings, known as spiracles, used for respiration. The underside of the abdomen has four pairs of wax glands. The wax exuded from these glands appears as thin, clear scales on the abdomen and is later chewed and mixed with saliva to form whitish beeswax for the hive. Workers are also equipped with a specialized pollen-collecting structure on the fourth segment of both of the hind legs, known as a pollen basket, or corbicula.