It has been reported that the honeybee, Apis mellifera (L.), came to the colonies of Virginia and Massachusetts in the early 1620's. Beekeepers had been raising these bees in Europe for many years before they came to North America. . Many people call it the European honeybee. Some call it the Western honeybee to distinguish it from the Asian or Eastern honeybee.
Honeybees are social insects. This means that they live in colonies in the same way ants and termites do. There is a single queen. The queen lives for about five years. There are thousands of workers. A mature honeybee colony can have as many as 80,000 bees.
When the population grows too large, males and a new queen develop. The new queen mates and takes over as queen. The old queen flies away from the nest. She takes some of the workers with her and they start a new colony. These honeybee migrations happen once or twice per year. Many people refer to these flights as swarms. The bees frighten many people, but in fact they are fairly docile during these swarms.
The queen can produce more than 1,000 eggs every day. If she fertilizes an egg, it develops into a female bee – a worker or a new queen. If she does not fertilize the egg, it develops into a male bee, called a drone. The queen places each egg into a cell in the comb. The immature bee develops in that cell.
When a new adult bee emerges from the cell, she is put to work in the nest caring for the young, maintaining the nest, and keeping the temperature constant in the nest. The older workers are sent out to forage and to gather pollen and nectar. During most of the year workers live about two months. All of the workers that develop in the fall live through the winter in the nest.
When the workers are gathering pollen, they are also pollinating the plants. Scientists have found that there are more than 120 crops that benefit from the activity of the honeybees. The pollination adds more than $15 billion to the value of the crops.
The workers make honey and store it in cells in the nest. A colony of European honeybees can make about 70 pounds of honey in a year. This is usually more than the colony needs for the winter. Beekeepers collect the excess and sell it. The honey crop in 2008 was valued at more than $225 million. In 2009, beekeepers in the U.S. collected 155 million pounds of honey.
Because of their economic value, honeybees are called Beneficial Insects. They should not be killed under ordinary circumstances. However, if they make their nest in the walls or attic of a home, they should be removed. In many areas, a beekeeper will come and remove bees from a home. If that is not possible, insecticide can be used to remove the bees from the home.
To avoid the risk of stings, many people prefer to call a pest control professional to treat for bees and other stinging insects.