The European honey bee or western honey bee ("Apis mellifera") is the main species of honey bee. The genus "Apis" is Latin for "bee", and mellifera comes from Greek melli- meaning "honey" and ferre "to bear". So, the scientific name means "honey-bearing bee". In 1758 Carolus Linnaeus named the bees as "Apis mellifera". However, he later found out that bees do not bear honey, but they actually bear nectar. Because of this, he tried to change it to "Apis mellifica" ("honey-making bee") later.