DESCRIPTION: L=0.7" (17mm). Yellowish-orange with black bands on abdomen. The Africanized Bee, a subspecies of honey bee from Africa, is almost identical in appearance to the European subspecies of Honey Bee.
NATURAL HISTORY: This is our well-known, domesticated bee introduced from Europe (and now also from Africa). It is very important for pollinating our crops (and other plants), and for producing commercial honey. They are a social insect, forming huge colonies containing mostly the queen and female workers. The workers can communicate the location of food sources to each other using elaborate dances. When Honey Bees sting, their stinger remains in the victim and the bee flies off to its death (this is the only North American stinging insect that does this). Meanwhile, the venom continues to be pumped into the victim. See Bee Biology for more information.