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andreniformis_onfinger
An Apis andreniformis worker on my fingers. Notice she is totally black, not reddish as Apis florea. An Apis andreniformis worker on my fingers. Notice she is totally black, not reddish as Apis florea.
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florea_finger
A florea worker trying to sting my finger. The pain is much less compared to the European bees. Most of the time they have trouble getting through my thick skin. A florea worker trying to sting my...
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florea_nest_top
The same nest, showing the top. The honey storing area wrapps around the twig, giving it a lot of strength. Notice the cell orientations have to change all the time to accomplish this. The same nest,...
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florea_comb
A closeup of a florea comb. A few rows of pollen are between the brood area and honey below. The honey storage is probably temporary -- the large cells are drone cells and will be used for rearing...
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florea_nest_new
A relatively new nest of florea. Some people harvested this colony's old comb about 2 weeks ago, and found their new nest again, this time only about 6 inchs across. Brood in the center are only just...
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florea_nest_me
The same nest held by Zachary. Photo by Darong Yang. The same nest held by Zachary. Photo by Darong Yang.
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florea_nest_mature
A mature florea nest, about 1 ft across. Honey is stored in a rather cylinderic column near the top. Worker brood is solid in the center, separated by a few rows of pollen cells from the much larger...
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florea_closeup
A closeup of workers on a florea nest. Workers form curtains (shingled together) similar to the giant honey bees. A closeup of workers on a florea nest. Workers form curtains (shingled together)...
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florea_queen
The queen and her retinue of a florea colony. Note the bee with '77' on her, which I tagged the night before. Because workers form a few layers of curtains, one has to comb through them to find the...
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florea_dorsata
Trick photo! This is a newly emerged dorsata worker on a florea nest. The dorsata was dipped in honey before introduced so workers were licking her, making her looking like a queen! The next day the...
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eggonpollen
The queen rarely makes mistakes, but here she did it. An egg is shown here laid on top of a pollen cell. The queen rarely makes mistakes, but here she did it. An egg is shown here laid on top of a...
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nursing
Bees busy inspecting and nursing larvae. One bee was marked red on her thorax and tip of abdomen to know her age in an experiment. Bees busy inspecting and nursing larvae. One bee was marked red on...
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africanbee1
Bees on the entrance. This picture was taken in South Africa, the bees were Apis mellifera scutellata (the so called killer bees). They looked almost exactly like our gentler bees... Bees on the...
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1against4
This is rather rare! One bee is feeding four others at the same time. Can you spot which is giving food? This picture was taken in South Africa, the bees were Apis mellifera scutellata (the so called...
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blackbee
A black bee (perhaps Apis mellifera carnica) busy making honey. A black bee (perhaps Apis mellifera carnica) busy making honey.
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beeclose
A typical 'Italian' bee (Apis mellifera ligustica) busy making honey. A typical 'Italian' bee (Apis mellifera ligustica) busy making honey.
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dorsata_development
Change in appearances in Apis dorsata worker, from pupa to adult. Change in appearances in Apis dorsata worker, from pupa to adult.
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dorsata_drone_worker
It seems that as the workers get larger, the difference in size between workers and drones gets smaller. Here you see the drone (top) is only 1 mm longer than the worker, in Apis dorsata (the giant...
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