what is the difference between apis mellifera & apis cerana?

Answer 1

Apis cerana, or the Asiatic honey bee (or the Eastern honeybee), are small honey bees of southern and southeastern Asia, such as China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea. This species is in the same subgenus as the European honey bee, Apis mellifera.

In the wild, both species prefer to nest in small spaces, such as hollowed out tree trunks. They're both often domesticated and used in apiculture. For many generations, domesticated A. mellifera have most often been housed in wooden boxes with fixed frame. For thousands of years Apis cerana has been kept in various kinds of hives, i.e. clay pots, logs, boxes, wall openings, etc. Despite the relatively recent introduction of movable-frame hives, colonies of Apis cerana kept in traditional hives are still a common sight in the villages of most Asian countries.

In size, both bees are similar, though A. cerana tends to run somewhat smaller than A. mellifera, and they also have a more prominent abdominal stripes. Their honey yield is smaller, because they form smaller colonies. Their beeswax is used to treat and heal wounds.

A. cerana is the natural host to the mite Varroa destructor, a serious pest of the European honey bee. Having coevolved with this mite, A. cerana exhibits more careful grooming than A. mellifera, and thus has an effective defense mechanism against Varroa that keeps the mite from devastating colonies. Other than defensive behaviors such as these, much of their behavior and biology (at least in the wild) is very similar to that of A. mellifera.

Thermal defense: When their hive is invaded by the Japanese giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia), about 500 Japanese honey bees (A. cerana japonica) surround the hornet and vibrate their flight muscles until the temperature is raised to 47°C (117°F), heating the hornet to death, but still under their own lethal limit (48-50°C). European honey bees ( A. mellifera) lack this behavior.

There are slight differences in the veination of the wings between A. cerana and A. mellifera, too. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apis_cerana for drawings.

Since the 1980's researchers have found a big reduction of A. cerana colonies throughout its natural range. At the same time the number of A. mellifera colonies has multiplied hugely. There is now a highly developed A. mellifera bee industry in Asia where there used to be only A. cerana.

One possible reason for the decline of A. cerana is direct competition between A. mellifera and A. cerana, for example in mating and for bee fodder. Another reason is the importation of diseases (brood diseases, tracheal mites and viral diseases) by the introduced bee. It is the subject of ongoing research and investigation.

Answer 2

Apis Cerana