Honey bee one queen bee, a fertile female; seasonally up to a few thousand drone bees, or fertile males; and tens of thousands of sterile female worker bees. Details vary among the different species of honey bees, but common features include: In cold climates, honey bees stop flying when the temperature drops below about and crowd into the central area of the hive to form a "winter cluster". The worker bees huddle around the queen bee at the center of the cluster, shivering to keep the center between at the start of winter (during the broodless period) and once the queen resumes
Maltese honey bee the loss of native colonies. In 1997 it was identified as a sub-species. It breeds well with the Italian sub-species making a strain that defends well against "Varroa", having a good honey yield and is less aggressive, although this is somewhat endangering the Maltese sub-species as a genetically distinct entity; however after some generations it reverts back to it's natural aggressive state. Maltese honey bee The Maltese honey bee, "Apis mellifera ruttneri", is a sub-species of the Western honey bee. It originates from Malta, where it is native. The bee is a sub-species of the Western honey bee that has