The Asian honey bee, Apis cerana, is a significant species native to Asia. It plays an integral role in its ecosystems, demonstrating complex behaviors that allow it to thrive in various environments. It holds particular interest for researchers and the public due to its unique adaptations and interactions within its natural range. Its study reveals much about intricate insect-environment relationships, highlighting its importance beyond honey production.
Defining the Asian Honey Bee
The Asian honey bee, Apis cerana, is native to a vast geographical area across Asia. Its native range extends from southeastern Asia northward into Russia, encompassing countries such as Japan, India, and regions of the Middle East. They are adaptable, inhabiting a wide array of climatic zones, including tropical forests, moist deciduous forests, grasslands, steppes, and coniferous forests and taigas.
Adult Apis cerana bees measure around 10 millimeters in length. They have black bodies with four distinct yellow abdominal stripes and often rusty-colored legs. Worker bees have a pollen press on their hind legs for pollen transportation. Nests are constructed within enclosed spaces like tree hollows, rock crevices, caves, and human structures.
Distinctive Behaviors and Adaptations
The Asian honey bee exhibits unique behaviors and adaptations, particularly in defense against predators and its co-evolutionary relationship with the Varroa destructor mite. When confronted by giant hornets, Apis cerana employs “heat balling.” Hundreds of bees cluster tightly around the hornet, vibrating flight muscles to raise the temperature within the ball to 47°C. This temperature is lethal to the hornet but tolerable for the bees, suffocating and killing the intruder.
Another defense against hornets is “shimmering,” where bees on the nest’s outer surface rapidly shake their bodies in unison, creating a visual and auditory deterrent. If overwhelmed, a colony may “abscond,” making short flights to rid themselves of attacking hornets before a longer flight to a new, safer location. This allows the colony to escape sustained predation.
The Asian honey bee also displays specific behaviors to manage Varroa destructor mite infestations, a result of its long co-evolutionary history. These include “grooming behavior,” where individual bees remove mites from themselves (autogrooming) or from nestmates (allogrooming). This often results in damaged or dead mites on the hive floor. Additionally, Apis cerana exhibits “hygienic behavior,” where worker bees detect and remove mite-infested brood, preventing mite reproduction within the colony.
Ecological Significance and Global Presence
The Asian honey bee is a significant pollinator in its native Asian ecosystems, contributing to the reproduction of various plants, including agricultural crops. As a generalist pollinator, Apis cerana collects nectar and pollen, typically focusing on a single plant species during a foraging trip. Its foraging range generally extends 200–300 meters from the nest, aiding localized plant pollination.
The co-evolution of Apis cerana with the Varroa destructor mite has influenced the global impact of this parasite. Unlike the Western honey bee (Apis mellifera), Apis cerana has developed natural resistance against the mite, allowing for a balanced host-parasite relationship where mite infestations do not typically decimate colonies. However, when Varroa destructor transferred to Apis mellifera populations, it caused widespread colony losses due to the Western honey bee’s lack of evolved defenses.
Beyond its native range, Apis cerana has spread to new environments, primarily through human activity like intentional introductions for honey production or accidental transport. For instance, it was introduced to Papua New Guinea in the late 1970s and has since expanded its distribution into the Torres Strait, the Solomon Islands, and Australia. This expansion raises concerns about competition with native fauna, including other pollinators, for nesting sites and food resources. Its presence in new areas also contributes to the spread of Varroa destructor to susceptible Apis mellifera colonies.