Western honey bee "Apis mellifera" is thought to have originated in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Western honey bee The western honey bee or European honey bee ("Apis mellifera") is the most common of the 7–12 species of honey bee worldwide. The genus name "Apis" is Latin for "bee", and "mellifera" is the Latin for "honey-bearing", referring to the species' production of honey. Like all honey bees, the western honey bee is eusocial, creating colonies with a single fertile female (or "queen"), many normally non-reproductive females or "workers," and small proportion of fertile males or "drones." Individual colonies can house tens of thousands of
Honey bee and starves emerging bees. Destruction of honeycombs also result in honey leaking and being wasted. Both "G. mellonella" adults and larvae are possible vectors for pathogens that can infect bees, including the Israeli acute paralysis virus and the black queen cell virus. Temperature treatments are possible, but also distorts wax of the honeycombs. Chemical fumigants, particularly CO, are also used. The only domesticated species of honey bee are "A. mellifera" and "A. cerana", and they are often maintained, fed, and transported by beekeepers. In Japan, where "mellifera" is vulnerable to local hornets and disease, the Japanese honey bee "a. cerana