Giant honey bee

Unlike most honey bees, this species forages at night, and it is the only bee of its genus known to do so.1

The queen mates with many drones, and the Himalayan subspecies has the highest levels of polyandry of any social insect.1

Each colony can have up to 100,000 bees, and colonies are only a few centimetres apart in large groups.1

Colonies migrate between nesting sites with the seasons, usually staying about 3 to 4 months at each site.1

Bees use a waggle dance to show other bees the distance, direction and value of a food source.1

Indigenous peoples have traditionally harvested the honey and beeswax of this bee, a practice known as honey hunting.1