Honeybees, Bumblebees, And Relatives

Species of this family are found throughout much of the world from the high Arctic latitudes to or near the southern limits of the major land masses of the Southern Hemisphere. The family consists of two subfamilies, the Bombinae which includes the orchid bees (Euglossini) and bumblebees (Bombini) and the Apinae which contains the stingless honeybees (Meliponini) and the familiar stinging honeybees (Apini). Some of these bees are of exceptional value to man not only because of their production of honey and other products, but also because they pollinate many agricultural and other plants. Although the family contains some social parasites (e.g., Aglae, Exaerete and Psithyrus) and nest robbers (e.g., Lestrimelitta), the pollen-collecting females, unlike those of any other family of bees, transport pollen by means of specialized pollen baskets (corbiculae) located on the hind tibiae. Virtually all stages of social development are exhibited by the family. These include all of the highly eusocial bees (Apinae) which live in perennial colonies as well as the primitively eusocial bumblebees and the solitary and parasocial Euglossini. ~In America north of Mexico the family is represented most conspicuously by the introduced European honeybee (Apis mellifera Linnaeus) and the many native species of bumblebees. The only other member of this family present in the United States is a species of the Neotropical genus Eulaema which was found years ago in the vicinity of Brownsville, Texas. In spite of repeated attempts to introduce various species of meliponine bees into the United States none of these introductions has been successful.