European honey bee or western honey bee (Apis mellifera) swarm
The European honey bee or western honey bee (Apis mellifera) is a species of honey bee. The genus Apis is Latin for "bee", and mellifera comes from Latin melli- "honey" and ferre "to bear" — hence the scientific name means "honey-bearing bee". The name was coined in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus who, realizing that the bees do not bear honey, but nectar, tried later to correct it to Apis mellifica ("honey-making bee") in a subsequent publication. However, according to the rules of synonymy in zoological nomenclature, the older name has precedence. Some people who are unaware of this still use the incorrect subsequent spelling. As of October 28, 2006, the Honey Bee Genome Sequencing Consortium fully sequenced and analyzed the genome of Apis mellifera. In 2007 media attention focused on Colony Collapse Disorder, a decline in European honey bee colonies in a minority of regions of North America Swarming is the natural means of reproduction of honey bee colonies (considering the colony as the organism rather than individual bees which cannot survive alone), including the domesticated Western honey bee. In the process two or more colonies are created in place of the original single colony. It is considered good practice in beekeeping to reduce swarming as much as possible by several techniques, as allowing this form of reproduction often results in the loss of the more vigorous division, and the remaining colony being so depleted that it is unproductive for the season. Beekeepers control reproduction by making nucs (nucleus or starter colonies) or by shaking package bees (usually for sale) from hives in the spring prior to the natural swarm time. New honey bee colonies are formed when queen bees leave the colony with a large group of worker bees, a process called swarming. The first or prime swarm generally goes with the old queen. -Wikipedia
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