In Honor of World Bee Day: 8 Types of Honeybees

Bees and their pollination methods are integral to the ecosystem, as well as agriculture of all types. Unfortunately, bee colonies are struggling due to pesticide use and habitat destruction. And now they might be in even greater trouble, following announcements made by the Trump administration that they will cut funding for bee research. Research teams are necessary to learn more about how bees thrive and to understand what factors result in population decline. These cuts to funding will essentially halt progress toward finding solutions to declining populations.

Worldwide, there are eight different species of honeybees, the only insect that produces a food edible to humans: honey. Celebrate World Bee Day by taking a look at our overview chart that details each species, then read below for information on what makes them unique.

This post was updated May 19, 2025 to include information on Trump’s cuts to bee research.

Red Dwarf Honey Bee

Also known as the red dwarf honeybee, the Apis florea bee is native to India and parts of Southeast Asia. These bees are reddish-brown in color and have white and black bands stretching across their abdomens. The fronts of their bodies are covered in black and white hairs. They are incredibly small, ranging from seven to 10 millimeters in body length, and have six to seven-millimeter forewings. These bees live in small colonies in nests built on the edges of tree branches. Their nests are very small – usually around 25 centimeters. In addition, they are exposed to the wilderness.

Giant Honey Bee

The Apis dorsata, also known as the giant honeybee, can be found in most of Southeast Asia. This bee has gold, black, and white bands stretching across its abdomen, and an extremely hairy thorax. Its most distinguishable feature is its large size, ranging from 17 to 20 millimeters in worker bees. One of the largest types of honeybees, the giant honeybee also has a forewing length of up to 14.5 millimeters. Giant honeybee nests can hold over 60,000 bees, and measure one-and-a-half meters in length and one meter in width. The nests are often clustered together in trees, with some trees containing up to 15 colonies.

Cavity Nesting Asian Honey Bee

Scientifically known as the Apis cerana, these bees are native to regions of eastern and southern Asia as well as parts of Russia. Worker bees have black bodies with four pronounced yellow stripes across their abdomens and are covered in small hairs that help them collect pollen and transport it to different plants. They are slightly smaller than traditional honeybees, but specific body measurements vary greatly from colony to colony. These bees live in colonies of around 7,000. Also, their nests consist of many combs with small entrances that provide an extra layer of defense against outside predators.

Himalayan Giant Honey Bee

The Apis laboriosa, also known as Himalayan giant honeybee, is the largest honeybee in the entire world. These bees can reach lengths of up to three centimeters long, which is larger than a quarter! Native to southern Asia, the Himalayan giant honeybee can be found living in large, open nests on the sides of cliffs at high altitudes. These nests are usually around one-and-a-half meters long and one meter wide. They have brown or black abdomens and a dark brown thorax that is covered in long yellow hairs. These bees have no stripes or markings, unlike many other types of honeybees.

Koschevnikov’s Honey Bee

Native to Malaysia and Indonesia, the Apis koschevnikovi bee is distinguished by its reddish coloring. Bees found in Malaysia display a pale red color, while those found in Indonesia have much darker, coppery coloring on their bodies. The worker bees of this species are average-sized, with a forewing length of between seven-and-a-half and nine millimeters. Workers have light orange bands stretching across their abdomens in contrast with their reddish-colored bodies. These bees live in very small colonies, building combed nests within tree cavities in the rainforests that they inhabit.

Black Dwarf Honey Bee

The smallest honeybee species, the black swarf honeybee, also known as the Apis andreniformis, measures between six-and-a-half to 10 millimeters in length. These bees are identifiable by their mainly black coloring, with some yellow hairs on their thorax, and fluorescent-looking bands that stretch across their abdomen. Black dwarf honeybees can be found in lowland areas throughout southern Asia and also the Islands off of its coast. Their nests consist of a singular comb and hang on the edges of twigs and branches low to the ground, housing very small colonies.

Western Honey Bee

Found naturally in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, the Apis mellifera species is the most commonly known type of honeybee. These bees have dark brown or black colored bodies and hairy thoraxes covered in black bands. Their abdomen is much less hairy than their thorax covered in orange and yellow bands. Western honeybees range in size from ten to 20 millimeters in length and have eight-millimeter-long forewings. Their nests are built within tree cavities and can also have entrances as small as ten millimeters that open up to expansive nests with many combs and thousands of worker bees.

Philippine Honey Bee

Native to the Phillippines and Indonesia, the Apis nigrocincta have moderately sized bodies that are predominately covered in reddish-tan hairs. The hairs on the undersides of their abdomens are used to carry pollen from plants as they feed. They have a forewing length of around six millimeters. Also, they are comparable in body length to the Western honeybee. They build nests close to the ground in tree cavities and also caves with multiple combs that house worker colonies and store honey.

Conclusion

While all of these species are identified as honeybees, they vary greatly in size and nest style. This shows how broad the term “honeybee” really is. These bees spread across many continents and ecosystems. Additionally, they fulfill a variety of different roles within their ecosystems. However, they distinguish themselves from one another in appearance, behavior, and job distribution.