Question

Which of the following is known as the little bee?
A) Apis indica
B) Apis florea
C) Apis dorsata
D) Apis mellifera

Answer 1

Bees are well known for their busy schedule, organization of labour, mode of communications. They are differentiated based on their individual size, comb size, number of colony members, coloration, height of their comb from sea level and so on. The question is based on the size of the bee.

Complete answer:
Apis florea is known as a little bee based on their size, they are small compared to all other species. The workers in their colony is around 7-10mm long, they build their nest on the branch of tree or shrubs which is also small compared to rest of the species combs, whereas Apis dorsata is the largest around 20mm long, which builds its nest with size around 1m1.5m. Apis mellifera is a european species which is around 10-20mm long, Apis indica is found smaller than A.dorsata and longer than A.florea.

Hence the correct answer is option ‘B’.

Note: Apis florea is commonly called as dwarf honey bee or red dwarf honey bee as they are very small compared to most of the other honey bees and due to the colouration of their body which is crimson red or brown, there exist another small species called Apis andreniformis as the sister species of A.florea. These two species consist of subgenus Micrapis which is the most primitive species of Apis, and results in the formation of small colony size and simple comb construction.