Red dwarf bees || The little honey bees

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The Red dwarf honey bees are small in size (7-10 mm) and commonly found across India. The colony forms a single hive and yield about half kilo honey per year. There are three caste members including workers (infertile female), queen (fertile female) and drones (males). The queen and drones serves as the reproductive caste while the workers will do the rest of the job of maintaining everything else in the hive. 

The communication for new nesting sites is done via dancing. If the new nesting site is within 200 meters, the bees will use the wax from old hive. Unlike ground nesting bees, hives are open and small, hence more susceptible to predators. The bees will place propolis barrier on either side of the branch as protection from attack by other insects.

They are also excellent pollinators of several plants which makes them essential part of ecosystems that they inhabit. 

Red dwarf bees (Apis florea)


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