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What the sources say

Western HoneybeeApis mellifera

Every figure, record and mechanism on the Western Honeybee profile was written from a source, and this is the working table behind it: 39 claims checked word for word against these sources. The left column is what the page says. The right column is the source's own words, copied, not paraphrased; a ... marks a cut and[brackets] an insertion. Open any source and check it yourself.

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Source
01

Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan

Apis mellifera (honey bee). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

The page saysA forager who dances flower coordinates with her whole body, and dies giving her sting.
The source saysthe stings of Apis workers are heavily barbed and the sting and venom glands tear out of the abdomen, remaining embedded in the target. This causes the death of the workerNote: tagline; the dance-with-her-body half is covered by the kohl-rutschmann-2021 claims below
The page saysWaggle-dance directions read from the sun and gravity, a barbed sting that costs its owner her life, and a nest built from hexagonal wax cells.
The source saysApis mellifera workers build a "comb", a sheet of hexagonal cells made of waxes they secrete.Note: stats.superpower; the sun/gravity half is covered by the kohl-rutschmann-2021 gravity-orientation claim below, the sting half by the tagline claim above
The page saysMeadows, open woodland, gardens and farmland worldwide, nesting in tree hollows and other cavities
The source saysEuropean honeybees prefer habitats that have an abundant supply of suitable flowering plants, such as meadows, open wooded areas, and gardens... They need cavities (e.g. in hollow trees) to nest in.Note: stats.habitat, combining the Habitat and Physical Description sections with the page's own 'agricultural' habitat-feature tag for farmland; worldwide is covered by the geographic-range claim below
The page saysApis mellifera comes in three sizes packed into one colony.
The source sayssterile workers are smaller (adults 10-15 mm long), fertile queens are larger (18-20 mm). Males, called drones, are 15-17 mm long at maturity.Note: the three sizes are worker, queen and drone, detailed in the next claim
The page saysThree Sizes and a Barbed Sting
The source sayssterile workers are smaller (adults 10-15 mm long), fertile queens are larger (18-20 mm). Males, called drones, are 15-17 mm long at maturity.Note: heading; the barbed sting is the next section claim. ADW names two castes of females plus males, so the heading says sizes, not castes
The page saysSterile female workers run 10 to 15 millimeters long, queens stretch to 18 to 20 millimeters, and males, called drones, land in between at 15 to 17 millimeters.
The source sayssterile workers are smaller (adults 10-15 mm long), fertile queens are larger (18-20 mm). Males, called drones, are 15-17 mm long at maturity.
The page saysA worker's sting is heavily barbed. When she uses it, the sting and its venom glands tear out of her abdomen and stay embedded in the target, and that kills her.
The source saysthe stings of Apis workers are heavily barbed and the sting and venom glands tear out of the abdomen, remaining embedded in the target. This causes the death of the worker
The page saysA stinging worker also releases an alarm pheromone that makes other workers agitated and more likely to sting.
The source saysA stinging worker releases an alarm pheromone which causes other workers to become agitated and more likely to sting
The page saysA forager who finds food within about 300 meters of the hive does a simple "round dance" that says food is nearby but not in which direction.
The source saysA "round dance" indicates food within about 300 meters of the hive, and only communicates the presence of the flowers, not the direction
The page sayswhile her worker daughters typically live for only a few weeks
The source saysWorkers typically only live for a few weeksNote: blockquote; 'only' is ADW's own word
The page saysA colony has one reproductive female, the queen, and she usually lives two to three years.
The source saysApis mellifera queens usually live 2 to 3 yearsNote: one reproductive female: ADW 'They live in colonies that contain one reproductive female (the queen) and her offspring.'
The page saysHer sterile daughters, the workers, do all the colony's work
The source saysSterile female offspring of the queen (the workers) perform all the work of the colony
The page saystwo to four weeks in summer, though a worker that lives through the winter can last as long as 11 months
The source saysAdult workers will live for 2-4 weeks in the summer, or as long as 11 months if they live through the winter.
The page saysApis mellifera feeds on nectar and pollen collected from blooming flowers
The source saysApis mellifera feed on pollen and nectar collected from blooming flowers.
The page saysWorkers build comb from wax they secrete, a sheet of hexagonal cells that also stores honey, which is processed nectar, and pollen.
The source saysEach cell can house one larval bee, and cells are also used as protected storage space for honey (processed nectar) and pollen.Note: comb of hexagonal wax cells: the superpower claim's quote
The page saysThe species is native to Europe, western Asia and Africa. Human introduction to other continents began in the 17th century, and it now lives all around the world, including east Asia, Australia and the Americas.
The source saysApis mellifera is native to Europe, western Asia, and Africa. Human introduction of Apis mellifera to other continents started in the 17th century, and now they are found all around the world, including east Asia, Australia and North and South America.
The page saysIt favours places rich in flowering plants, such as meadows, open woodland and gardens, and nests in cavities such as hollow trees.
The source saysEuropean honeybees prefer habitats that have an abundant supply of suitable flowering plants, such as meadows, open wooded areas, and gardens... They need cavities (e.g. in hollow trees) to nest in.
The page saysUnlike a worker's, a queen's sting is not heavily barbed, so it does not rip out of her body when she uses it.
The source saysUnlike queens, and unusual among stinging insects, the stings of Apis workers are heavily barbed and the sting and venom glands tear out of the abdomenNote: the 'so' is the source's own contrast: the barb is what makes a worker's sting tear out
The page saysonce a swarm has left, the new queens still in the old hive try to sting and kill one another, fighting on until a single queen survives
The source saysAfter the swarming is completed, any remaining new queens try to sting and kill each other, continuing to fight until all but one is dead.
The page saysA drone that successfully mates with a queen in flight drops away from her afterward and dies within a few hours or days. Drones who do not mate simply keep loitering near the mating grounds, trying again until they succeed or die trying.
The source saysEach male who succeeds in mating drops away, and dies within a few hours or days. Males who do not mate will continue to loiter in the assembly areas until they mate or die trying.
The page saysQueens Outlive Their Workers
The source saysApis mellifera queens usually live 2 to 3 years, but some have been known to last for 5 years. Workers typically only live for a few weeksNote: heading
The page saysNectar, Pollen and a Worldwide Range
The source saysnow they are found all around the worldNote: heading; nectar and pollen is the Food Habits claim

Source
02

Brown et al. 2022

Brown et al. (2022). Dream Team for Honey Bee Health: Pollen and Unmanipulated Gut Microbiota Promote Worker Longevity and Body Weight. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems.

The page saysNectar and pollen from flowers, pollen being its only protein source
The source saysPollen collected by foragers in the environment constitutes the unique source of proteinNote: stats.diet; nectar and pollen from flowers is the ADW Food Habits line claimed in the body below
The page sayscaged worker bees weighed between 0.0776 and 0.1886 grams
The source saysThe fresh body weight of all experimental workers ranged from 0.0776 and 0.1886 g ( N = 60 workers per treatment, total N = 240 total workers, mean = 0.13537 gNote: scoped to a hoarding-cage feeding trial with freshly emerged summer workers
The page saysOne caged feeding trial recorded worker lifespans anywhere from 3 to 61 days, averaging under three weeks.
The source saysThe experimental workers lived between 3 and 61 days (global mean: 18.77 days, SD = 9.9Note: 18.77 days is about 2.7 weeks; caged summer workers in one lab trial, not a natural-conditions average
The page sayspollen is its only source of protein
The source saysPollen collected by foragers in the environment constitutes the unique source of protein

Source
03

AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, Human Ageing Genomic Resources

AnAge entry for Apis mellifera. AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, Human Ageing Genomic Resources.

The page saysA queen has been reported living up to eight years
The source saysQueens have been reported to live up to 8 years.Note: blockquote. ADW (older) says 'some have been known to last for 5 years'; AnAge's 8 is a reported maximum and is kept hedged as AnAge hedges it
The page saysforaging keeps their lives short
The source saysWorkers have a short lifespan due to foraging

Source
04

Kohl & Rutschmann 2021

Kohl & Rutschmann (2021). Honey bees communicate distance via non-linear waggle duration functions. PeerJ.

The page saysFor food farther away she switches to the waggle dance: a straight run while shaking her abdomen, then a turn back to the starting point, circuit after circuit.
The source saysEach circuit is composed of the waggle phase, in which the bee walks straight and shakes its abdomen, and the return phase, in which it turns back and walks to the starting point.Note: 'farther away' is ADW's 'The more complicated "waggle dance" indicates the direction and distance of food further away'; 'circuit after circuit' is Kohl's 'sequences of dance circuits'
The page saysOn the vertical comb inside the dark hive she orients her body relative to gravity, and that angle stands in for the direction to the food relative to the sun's position.
The source saysWhen dancing on the vertical comb inside the dark hive, a dancer refers to gravity, and its body orientation with reference to the upwards direction encodes the direction to the resource with reference the sun's current position over the horizon.
The page saysResearchers who trained honeybees to feeders up to 1.7 kilometers away found that the straight run's duration does not grow evenly with distance: it climbs faster over the first kilometer and more slowly beyond it.
The source saysbetween 0.1 and 1.7 km from the hive... The distance-related increase in waggle duration was better described by a non-linear model with a decreasing slope than by a simple linear model. The relationship was equally well captured by a model with two linear segments separated at a “break-point” at 1 km distance.Note: 'climbs faster, then more slowly beyond it' paraphrases the decreasing slope and the break-point at 1 km; the duration still rises past 1 km, so nothing says it flattens
The page saysOne study trained honeybees to sugar feeders between 0.1 and 1.7 kilometers from the hive and timed the dances they performed on returning.
The source saysWe trained honey bees ( A. mellifera carnica ) to visit sugar feeders over a relatively long array of distances between 0.1 and 1.7 km from the hive and measured the duration of both the waggle phase and the return phase of their dances from video recordings.
The page saysIt also lists an older study of the dance, by Lindauer, that trained bees up to 11 kilometers from the hive.
The source saysthe study by Lindauer (1960) (see von Frisch, 1965 ), who trained bees up to 11 km from the hive is outside of the plotting range of the figureNote: the figure plots dance duration against feeder distance from earlier studies of the dance
The page saysDancing in a Dark Hive
The source saysWhen dancing on the vertical comb inside the dark hiveNote: heading; ADW also says 'it's always dark in the hive'
The page saysrepeats one routine circuit after circuit: a straight run while shaking her abdomen, then a turn back to the start
The source saysEach circuit is composed of the waggle phase, in which the bee walks straight and shakes its abdomen, and the return phase, in which it turns back and walks to the starting point.Note: vibe.reason, settled in #913
The page saysher body's angle to gravity standing in for the direction to food
The source saysWhen dancing on the vertical comb inside the dark hive, a dancer refers to gravity, and its body orientation with reference to the upwards direction encodes the direction to the resource with reference the sun's current position over the horizon.Note: vibe.reason, settled in #913

Source
05

Moro et al. 2025

Moro et al. (2025). Apis mellifera. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2025: e.T42463639A277757621.

The page saysThe Red List's most recent assessment, from 2025, covers Europe only and lists the western honeybee there as Data Deficient, with a decreasing population trend.
The source saysApis mellifera has most recently been assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2025. Apis mellifera is listed as Data Deficient... POPULATION TREND Decreasing
The page sayscovers Europe only
The source saysSCOPE OF ASSESSMENT Europe
The page saysNot Evaluated
The source saysSCOPE OF ASSESSMENT EuropeNote: stats.conservationStatus; the Red List's only assessment for this binomial is the 2025 Europe-regional one (Data Deficient), so there is no global category to report and the site's global field stays Not Evaluated

How the table was made: a writer drafted the profile from these sources and logged each claim with its quote, a reviewer with nothing but this table checked every sentence said no more than its quote, and a script confirmed each quote appears word for word in the source. The method is in the site'sAbout page.