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Subspecies of bee From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Apis cerana indica, the Indian honey bee, is a subspecies of Asiatic honey bee. It is one of the predominant bees found and domesticated in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand and mainland Asia. Relatively non-aggressive and rarely exhibiting swarming behavior, it is ideal for beekeeping.
Apis cerana indica | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Family: | Apidae |
Genus: | Apis |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | A. c. indica |
Trinomial name | |
Apis cerana indica (Fabricius, 1798) |
It is similar to the European honeybee (Apis mellifera), which tends to be slightly larger and can be easily distinguished.
They usually build multiple combed nests in tree hollows and man-made structures. These bees can adapt to living in purpose-made hives and cavities. Their nesting habit means that they can potentially colonize temperate or mountain areas with prolonged winters or cold temperatures. Colonies contain only a few thousand workers, compared to the 50,000 typical of European honey bees.
It is one of the important pollinators for coconut palms; the other species are Apis florea, Apis dorsata and Apis mellifera (the European bee).[1]
A recent paper describing the discovery of Apis karinjodian, a species of cavity-nesting honeybee endemic to the Western Ghats region of India, also proposes that A. Indica is a distinct species from A. Cerana, and that its homeland of Southern India may also be the center of origin for the European honeybee, Apis mellifera.[2][3]
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