Honey bee: Difference between revisions

The best known honey bee is the [[western honey bee]], (''Apis mellifera''), which was domesticated for honey production and crop [[pollination]]. The only other domesticated bee is the eastern honey bee (''[[Apis cerana]]''), which occurs in [[South Asia|South]], [[Southeast Asia|Southeast]], and [[East Asia]]. Only members of the genus ''Apis'' are true honey bees,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Buchmann |first1=Stephen L. |title=Honey Bees: Letters from the Hive |date=8 June 2010 |publisher=Random House Children's Books |location=New York |isbn=9780375895579 |page=157 |edition=1st}}</ref> but some other types of bees produce and store honey and have been kept by humans for that purpose, including the [[stingless bee]]s belonging to the genus ''[[Melipona]]'' and the Indian stingless or dammar bee ''[[Tetragonula iridipennis]]''. Modern humans also use [[beeswax]] in making [[candle]]s, [[soap]], [[lip balm]]s and various [[cosmetics]], as a lubricant and in mould-making using the [[Lost-wax casting|lost wax process]].

 

The [[genus]] name ''Apis'' is [[Latin]] for "bee".<ref>{{cite web |title=Apis |url=http://latindictionary.wikidot.com/noun:apis |website=The Latin Dictionary |access-date=23 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Honeybee |publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper |date=2019 |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Honeybee |access-date=27 February 2016 }}</ref> Although modern dictionaries may refer to ''Apis'' as either honey bee or honeybee, [[entomologist]] [[Robert Evans Snodgrass|Robert Snodgrass]] asserts that [[linguistic prescription|correct usage]] requires two words, i.e., ''honey bee'', because it is a kind or type of bee. It is incorrect to run the two words together, as in ''dragonfly'' or ''butterfly'', which are appropriate because dragonflies and butterflies are not flies.<ref name=Snodgrass1984>{{cite book|author=Robert E. Snodgrass|title=Anatomy of the Honey Bee|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IHGmkX1zDS8C|year=1984|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-9302-7|page=vii}}</ref> Honey bee, not honeybee, is the listed common name in the [[Integrated Taxonomic Information System]], the [[Entomological Society of America]] Common Names of Insects Database, and the [[Tree of Life Web Project]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Integrated Taxonomic Information System – Search, ''Apinae''|url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=633913#null |access-date=26 February 2016|date=2008}}</ref><ref name=ESA>{{cite web |title=Common Names of Insects Database|publisher=Entomological Society of America |url=http://entsoc.org/common-names |access-date=21 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |publisher=Tree of Life Web Project |title=Apinae|url=http://tolweb.org/Apinae|date=2004 |access-date=25 February 2016 }}</ref>