World Bee Day: Western Honey Bee

The 20th May 2026 is World Bee Day. To mark it, this post will focus on the description of the Western Honey Bee provided in Historia Insectorum, which was written in Latin. That book was published posthumously in 1710 by the Royal Society under the name of John Ray but it was based on the observations and notes of Francis Willughby.

What is commonly known today as the Western Honey Bee was called the Common Honey Bee or Apis domestica seu vulgaris alvearium by Ray and Willughby. In 1758, Carl Linnaeus identified their description and provided the taxonomical binominal name of Apis mellifera, which it still has today.

In Insectorum, the Honey Bee was described as having a blackish back with five rings and that the shoulders were sparsely covered with faint reddish ashen hairs. Although what they described as the back would today be specifically termed as the thorax, it is the abdomen rather than the thorax that is ringed in a bee. The number of “rings” can vary but it is normally about six visible segments.

The colouring of Honey Bees varies by subspecies. The description provided fits very closely to the description of the European Dark Bee that was also known as the British Black Bee (Apis mellifera ssp. mellifera). This species was native to Britain and was present before the Ice Age. It was black with some golden-amber bands and covered in furry hair that was greyish-brown, sandy or ashy. This subspecies was almost completely eradicated from Britain in the early 20th century by disease and was replaced by the Italian subspecies.

European Dark Bee at Lost Gardens of Heligan, 2017, SJ Richards, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In Insectorum, it was written that the eyes of the Honey Bee were deep-set and covered by a horn like substance. Honey Bees in fact have five eyes – two large compound eyes and three simple eyes. The compound eyes are not deep-set by modern comprehension but they are partially bordered by the exoskeleton, which is a hard cuticle that their horn-like substance was referring to.

They wrote that it had four wings, dry and transparent, attached to the shoulders and that the hind pair were smaller. This is correct. The Honey Bee has two pairs of wings and the hindwings are smaller.

They described that two soft and black flexible antennae emerged from the front, but not from the same root. This is correct.

They also wrote that beneath the mouth was a short, reddish tongue that curved inward and was much shorter than in the Wild Bees. This is incorrect. Honey Bees have a long, flexible proboscis which they use for lapping nectar and the length of the proboscis does not differ between the Honey and Wild Bees.

Furthermore, they added that the Bees had two pincers that were broader toward the tips. The idea of this comment is correct. This refers to the mandibles and the Bees do have two mandibles which they use for manipulating wax, chewing pollen and nest work.

Finally, they wrote that from the lowest joints two projections emerged, like fingers. This statement likely refers to the tarsal claws, which the Bees use for gripping surfaces.

Further reading:

John Ray, Historia Insectorum, 1710, pp.240-241.

Carl Linnaeus, Systema Naturae, 10th edition, 1758, p.576.

Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.

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