Apis cerana is the sister species of our bees (A. mellifera). It is the original host of the varroa mites (Varroa jacobsoni, Varroa destructor). Bees are generally smaller and with more striking bands on the abdomen compared to our bees. Most photoes take
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A bee foraging on a begonia (Begoniaceae). Yunnan, China. May 2001. - DSCN1375_JPG
A bee foraging on Scarlet sage (Salvia splendens, Lamiaceae). Yunnan, China. May 2001. - DSCN1236_JPG
A bee foraging on a begonia (Begoniaceae). Yunnan, China. May 2001. - DSCN1275_JPG
A bee foraging on a dahlia flower (Dahlia spp, Asteraceae). Yunnan, China. May 2001. - DSCN1344_JPG
A bee foraging on prevet (Ligustrum spp, Oleaceae). Yunnan, China. May 2001. - cerana_foraging
Three bees foraging on a poppy (Eschscholzia spp, Papaveraceae). Chiangmai, Thailand. May 2000. - DSCN1781_JPG
A bee foraging on day flowers (Commelinaceae). This bee was foraging before there was full light (around 5 am). Yunnan, China. May 2001. - DSCN1376_JPG
A bee foraging on Scarlet sage (Salvia splendens, Lamiaceae). Yunnan, China. May 2001. - DSCN1955_JPG
A bee foraging on sweet ternera (Turnera ulmifolia, Turneraceae). Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. May 2001. - cerana_on
A bee resting by biting on the anther of Pichira macrocarpa (Bombacaceae). Both dorsata and cerana forage on this plant by hovering and collect pollen. Hoving must be very tiring because you bees taking rests on leaves. This bee becomes smart and is taking a rest on the job. Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. April 2002. - cerana_aster
A bee approaching an aster (Asteraceae). Photo by Wenquan Zhen. Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. - DSCN9835
A cerana foraging on flowers on a Chinese Tangerine (Citrus spp, Rutaceae). I was very lucky to see bees foraging on this tree. All the normal trees had finished flowering by May last year. But my uncle had moved this tree to the front of his house, delaying the flowering by about 2 weeks and also enabling me to see bees foraging that day! May 4, 2002. Shaoshan, Hunan, China (Zach's home town). - 9_clock_fl_melissa
9-clock-fl-melissa - cerana_solanacea2
A cerana worker foraging for pollen inside a flower of datura (Datura stramonium, Solanaceae). The bees hover inside the large flower to get pollen, luckily my Nikon 990 can be twisted such that I can shoot upwards without me lying down in mud. Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. April 2002. - P3220061
An Apis cerana foraging on dianthus flowers (Dianthus spp, Caryophyllaceae). Chiangmai, Thailand. March 22, 2000.