Apis mellifera (species) en

Species of bee native to Europe, Asia, and Africa; introduced to North America in the early 17th century. It is around 1.2 cm (0.5 inch) in length,has a somewhat bristly head and thorax, and varyies in color according to the strain. Two large compound eyes and three simple eyes, or ocelli, are located on top of the head. Keen eyesight is complemented by two sensitive, odor-detecting antennae. There are a number of races, subspecies, and strains of this species. As with other bees, honey bees are social insects and live together in nests or hives. Honey bee colonies have been cared for and managed by humans for many centuries, for the purpose of harvesting their honey and for their role in agriculture as pollinators of a wide variety of domesticated plants.