Honeybee (Apis mellifera)
honeybee, Broadly, any bee that makes honey (any insect of the tribe Apini, family Apidae); more strictly, one of the four species constituting the genus Apis. The term is usually applied to one species, the domestic honeybee (A. mellifera), also known as the European domestic bee or western honeybee. The other Apis species are confined to Asia. A. mellifera is usually about 0.5 in. (1.2 cm) long. All honeybees are social insects that live in nests or hives. They have three castes: workers (undeveloped females), queens, and drones (stingless males). See also beekeeping.