Editing Bee (section)

===Eusociality===
[[File:Bee swarm on fallen tree03.jpg|thumb|upright|A [[Western honey bee]] swarm]]
[[File:Wildbienen.jpg|thumb|[[Western honey bee]] nest in the [[Trunk (botany)|trunk]] of a [[Picea abies|spruce]]]]
{{further|Eusociality}}

Bees may be solitary or may live in various types of communities. [[Eusociality]] appears to have originated from at least three independent origins in halictid bees.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brady |first1=Seán G. |last2=Sipes |first2=Sedonia |last3=Pearson |first3=Adam |last4=Danforth |first4=Bryan N. |date=2006 |title=Recent and simultaneous origins of eusociality in halictid bees |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences |volume=273 |issue=1594 |pages=1643–1649 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2006.3496 |issn=0962-8452 |pmc=1634925 |pmid=16769636}}</ref> The most advanced of these are species with [[Eusociality|eusocial]] colonies; these are characterized by cooperative brood care and a [[division of labour]] into reproductive and non-reproductive adults, plus overlapping generations.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Insect Societies|last=Wilson|first=Edward O|publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press|year=1971|location=Cambridge, Mass}}</ref> This division of labour creates specialized groups within eusocial societies which are called [[Eusociality#In insects|castes]]. In some species, groups of cohabiting females may be sisters, and if there is a division of labour within the group, they are considered [[semisocial]]. The group is called eusocial if, in addition, the group consists of a mother (the [[Queen bee|queen]]) and her daughters ([[Worker bee|workers]]). When the castes are purely behavioural alternatives, with no morphological differentiation other than size, the system is considered primitively eusocial, as in many [[paper wasp]]s; when the castes are morphologically discrete, the system is considered highly eusocial.<ref name=Michener1974>{{cite book|author=Michener, Charles Duncan |title=The Social Behavior of the Bees: A Comparative Study |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aordrL_D-30C&pg=PA78 |year=1974 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-81175-1 |pages=22–78}}</ref>

True honey bees (genus ''[[Apis (genus)|Apis]]'', of which eight species are currently recognized) are highly eusocial, and are among the best known insects. Their colonies are established by [[Swarming (honey bee)|swarms]], consisting of a queen and several thousand workers. There are 29 subspecies of one of these species, ''[[Apis mellifera]]'', native to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. [[Africanized bee]]s are a hybrid strain of ''A. mellifera'' that escaped from experiments involving crossing European and African subspecies; they are extremely defensive.<ref>{{cite web | last1=Sanford | first1=Malcolm T. | title=The Africanized Honey Bee in the Americas: A Biological Revolution with Human Cultural Implications | url=http://apisenterprises.com/papers_htm/Misc/AHB%20in%20the%20Americas.htm | publisher=Apis Enterprises | access-date=29 March 2015 | year=2006 | url-status=live | archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20150329231615/http://apisenterprises.com/papers_htm/Misc/AHB%20in%20the%20Americas.htm | archive-date=29 March 2015}}</ref>

[[Stingless bee]]s are also highly [[eusocial]]. They practice [[mass provisioning]], with complex nest architecture and perennial colonies also established via swarming.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite journal | last1=Roubik | first1=D. W. | year=2006 | title=Stingless bee nesting biology | journal=Apidologie | volume=37 | issue=2 | pages=124–143 | doi=10.1051/apido:2006026| url=http://www.apidologie.org/articles/apido/pdf/2006/02/m6034sp.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.apidologie.org/articles/apido/pdf/2006/02/m6034sp.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live | doi-access=free }}</ref>

[[File:Bumblebee 05.JPG|thumb|left|A [[bumblebee]] carrying pollen in its [[pollen basket]]s (corbiculae)]]

Many bumblebees are eusocial, similar to the eusocial [[Vespidae]] such as [[hornet]]s in that the queen initiates a nest on her own rather than by swarming. Bumblebee colonies typically have from 50 to 200 bees at peak population, which occurs in mid to late summer. Nest architecture is simple, limited by the size of the pre-existing nest cavity, and colonies rarely last more than a year.<ref name="BBCT-nest">{{cite web | title=Bumblebee nests | url=http://bumblebeeconservation.org/about-bees/habitats/bumblebee-nests/ | publisher=Bumblebee Conservation Trust | access-date=26 June 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922230805/https://bumblebeeconservation.org/about-bees/habitats/bumblebee-nests/ | archive-date=22 September 2017}}</ref> In 2011, the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] set up the Bumblebee Specialist Group to review the threat status of all bumblebee species worldwide using the [[IUCN Red List]] criteria.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/bumblebee_sg_proofed.pdf | title=Bumblebee Specialist Group: 2011 Update | publisher=[[IUCN]] | access-date=7 October 2012 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203034020/http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/bumblebee_sg_proofed.pdf | archive-date=3 December 2012}}</ref>

There are many more species of primitively eusocial than highly eusocial bees, but they have been studied less often. Most are in the family [[Halictidae]], or "sweat bees". Colonies are typically small, with a dozen or fewer workers, on average. Queens and workers differ only in size, if at all. Most species have a single season colony cycle, even in the tropics, and only mated females hibernate. A few species have long active seasons and attain colony sizes in the hundreds, such as ''[[Halictus hesperus]]''.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Brooks | first1=R. W. | last2=Roubik | first2=D. W. | year=1983 | title=A Halictine bee with distinct castes: ''Halictus hesperus'' (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) and its bionomics in Central Panama | journal=Sociobiology | volume=7 | pages=263–282 }}</ref> Some species are eusocial in parts of their range and solitary in others,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Eickwort |first1=G. C. |last2=Eickwort |first2=J. M. |last3=Gordon|first3=J. |last4=Eickwort |first4=M. A. |last5=Wcislo |first5=W. T. |title=Solitary behavior in a high-altitude population of the social sweat bee Halictus rubicundus (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) |journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=227–233 |doi=10.1007/s002650050236 |year=1996|bibcode=1996BEcoS..38..227E |s2cid=12868253 }}</ref> or have a mix of eusocial and solitary nests in the same population.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Yanega | first1=D. | year=1993 | title=Environmental effects on male production and social structure in ''Halictus rubicundus'' (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) | journal=Insectes Sociaux | volume=40 | pages=169–180 | doi=10.1007/bf01240705| s2cid=44934383 }}</ref> The [[orchid bee]]s (Apidae) include some primitively eusocial species with similar biology. Some [[Allodapini|allodapine]] bees (Apidae) form primitively eusocial colonies, with [[progressive provisioning]]: a larva's food is supplied gradually as it develops, as is the case in honey bees and some bumblebees.<ref>{{cite book |author=Michener, Charles Duncan |title=The Social Behavior of the Bees: A Comparative Study |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aordrL_D-30C&pg=PA308 |year=1974 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-81175-1 |page=308 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224104244/https://books.google.com/books?id=aordrL_D-30C&pg=PA308 |archive-date=24 December 2016}}</ref>