Apis cerana

Taxonomy

Family: Apidae
Subfamily: Apinae
Tribe: Apini Latreille, 1802
Genus: Apis Linnaeus, 1758
Subgenus: Apis (Apis) Linnaeus, 1758
Species: Apis cerana Fabricius, 1793
Common names: Asian honey bee, Asiatic honey bee, or eastern honey bee

Overview

The Asian honey bee is one of the most morphologically diverse species of honey bees, to the extent that multiple subspecies or races are recognized. Asian honey bees have a body length of around 9 mm, and body coloration varies among the different races. A. cerana is the primary host of the parasitic mites Varroa jacobsoni and V. destructor.

Diagnostic characteristics

• Female worker: body size moderate (forewing length 7–9 mm).
• Female worker: legs of rusty coloration (Fig 2).
• Pubescence pubescence:
  short, fine hair
  of body tan.
• Sting apparatus with 10 lancetlancet:
  apical part of the first valvula [= the first valvifer, which originated from the appendage of the 7th gastral segment, has commonly been referred to as the triangular plate or gonoplac which basally, gives rise to the first valvula which is a long thin process. The basal part of the first valvula is the first ramus and the more apical part the lancet, which itself gives rise to the valvilli (or lancet valves)].
  barbs and 4–5 pairs of stylet barbs (Jayasvasti and Wongsiri 1992Jayasvasti and Wongsiri 1992:
  Jayasvasti, S., and S. Wongsiri. 1992. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of honeybees ( Apis florea , Apis dorsata , Apis cerana , Apis mellifera , Apis andreniformis and Apis koschevnikovi ) stings. Recent Advances in Toxicology Research 2: 193ndash;204., 1993) (Fig 10).
• Distance from tip of lancetlancet:
  apical part of the first valvula [= the first valvifer, which originated from the appendage of the 7th gastral segment, has commonly been referred to as the triangular plate or gonoplac which basally, gives rise to the first valvula which is a long thin process. The basal part of the first valvula is the first ramus and the more apical part the lancet, which itself gives rise to the valvilli (or lancet valves)].
  to the first barb = 49.87 µm (Jayasvasti and Wongsiri 1992Jayasvasti and Wongsiri 1992:
  Jayasvasti, S., and S. Wongsiri. 1992. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of honeybees ( Apis florea , Apis dorsata , Apis cerana , Apis mellifera , Apis andreniformis and Apis koschevnikovi ) stings. Recent Advances in Toxicology Research 2: 193ndash;204., 1993).

Host associations

As with all species of honey bees, A. cerana is a generalist and visits a broad range of plants for food.

Nesting behavior

Nests of A. cerana are built in enclosed cavities and consist of multiple combs arranged parallel to one another and separated by a uniform distance. Colonies of A. cerana are smaller (with around 7000 individuals) than those of Apis mellifera (Winston 1991Winston 1991:
Winston, M. L. 1991. The biology of the honey bee. Harvard University Press. 249p.), and hence this species prefers smaller cavities. In addition, colonies of A. cerana do not use propolispropolis:
a red or brown resinous substance collected by honeybees from tree buds, used by them to fill crevices and to seal and varnish honeycombs
for sealing of their nest, whereas A. mellifera colonies do.

Diversity

There are multiple studies on the variability of A. cerana, but one of the most remarkable works includes Radloff, et al. (2010) who presented a list of all the studies dealing with variations among populations of A. cerana and also identified six morphoclusters within A. cerana. Previously, Radloff, et al. (2005) demonstrated that sub-Himalayan populations of A. cerana had smaller sizes in eastern populations and larger sizes with increasing altitude. Zhen Ming, et al. (1992) and Partap (1999) documented multiple subspecies of A. cerana in China, and Tan, et al. (2002, 2003) found different subspecies when comparing A. cerana from northern and southern Yunnan province.

Known invasives

Although endemic to most of Asia, A cerana has been introduced since the 1980’s into areas outside its natural range, such as New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Australia (Koetz 2013Koetz 2013:
Koetz, A.H. 2013. Ecology, behaviour, and control of Apis cerana with a focus on relevance to the Australian incursion. Insects 4: 558ndash;592.).

Distribution

Found across most of Asia, from the Middle East and India to Japan and south to the Philippines; more recently it has been introduced into Oceania. This species inhabits a large range of habitats with varied climatic conditions, from cool regions in higher latitudes and altitudes, to dry, semi-desert environments, as well as tropical climates (Gupta 2014Gupta 2014:
Gupta, R.K. 2014. Taxonomy and distribution of different honeybee species. In: Gupta R.K., Reybroeck W., van Veen J. W. amp; A. Gupta (eds): Beekeeping for poverty alleviation and livelihood security Vol.1: Technological aspects of beekeeping. Pp. 63ndash;103., Koetz 2013Koetz 2013:
Koetz, A.H. 2013. Ecology, behaviour, and control of Apis cerana with a focus on relevance to the Australian incursion. Insects 4: 558ndash;592.).

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References

Fabricius, J.C. 1793. Entomologia Systematica. Hafniae, Proft. Vol. II, 8+519pp.

Gupta, R.K. 2014. Taxonomy and distribution of different honeybee species. In: Gupta R.K., Reybroeck W., van Veen J. W. & A. Gupta (eds): Beekeeping for poverty alleviation and livelihood security Vol.1: Technological aspects of beekeeping. Pp. 63-103.

Jayasvasti, S., and S. Wongsiri. 1992. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of honeybees (Apis florea, Apis dorsata, Apis cerana, Apis mellifera, Apis andreniformis and Apis koschevnikovi) stings. Recent Advances in Toxicology Research 2: 193-204.

Jayasvasti, S., and S. Wongsiri. 1993. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of honey bee -. stings of six species (Apis florea, Apis dorsata, Apis cerana, Apis koschevnikovi, Apis florea, and Apis andreniformis). Honeybee Science 14: 105-109.

Koetz, A.H. 2013. Ecology, behaviour and control of Apis cerana with a focus on relevance to the Australian incursion. Insects 4: 558-592.

Partap, U.1999. Conservation of endangered Himalayan honeybee, Apis cerana for crop pollination. Asian Bee Journal 1(1): 44-49.

Radloff S.E., H.R. Hepburn, and S. Fuchs. 2005. The morphometricmorphometric:
from the Greek: &quot;morph,&quot; meaning &quot;shape,&quot; and &quot;metron,&quot; meaning &quot;measurement.&quot; Different schools of morphometrics are characterized by what aspects of biological &quot;form&quot; they are concerned with, what they choose to measure, and what kinds of biostatistical questions they ask of the measurements once they are made; such as configurations of landmarks from whole organs or organisms analyzed by appropriately invariant biometric methods (covariances of taxon, size, etc.) and in order to answer biological questions. Another sort of morphometrics studies tissue sections, measures the densities of points and curves, and uses these patterns to answer questions about the random processes that may be controlling the placement of cellular structures. A third, the method of &quot;allometry,&quot; measures sizes of separate organs and asks questions about their correlations with each other and with measures of total size. There are many others.</p
affinities of Apis cerana of the Hindu Kush and Himalayan regions of western Asia, Apidologie 36: 25–30.

Radloff S.E., C. Hepburn, H.R. Hepburn , S. Fuchs, S. Hadisoesilo, K. Tan, M.S. Engel, and V. Kuznetsov. 2010. Population structure and classification of Apis cerana. Apidologie 41(6): 589-601.

Tan K., S. Fuchs, N. Koeniger, and Z. Ruiguang. 2002. Morphological characterization of Apis cerana (Fabr.) in the Province Yunnan of China. Apidologie 34: 553–561.

Tan K.,, X. Zhang, S. He, and D.Y. Zhou. 2003. Morphometrics and biogeography of Apis cerana in Yunnan, Apiculture China 53, 4–6 (in Chinese).

Winston, M. L. 1991. The biology of the honey bee. Harvard University Press. 249p.

Zhen Ming J., Y. Guanhuang, H. Shuanghiu, L. Shikui, and R. Zaizin. 1992. The advancement of apicultural science and technology in China. In: Verna L. R. (ed.): Honey bees in mountain agriculture. Oxford and IBH Publishing, New Delhi. Pp: 133-148.