Bug FAQAsian Honey Bee
Apis cerana · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Apidae
Also called: Asiatic Honey Bee, Eastern Honey Bee, Honey Bee
Source: Wikipedia
Adult Asian honey bees are black with four yellow abdominal stripes and have long hairs covering their eyes. They build multi-comb nests in cavity spaces with small entrances and are native to much of South, Southeast and East Asia. Workers collect pollen and nectar, have a stinger, and the queen mates with many drones.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Adults are black with four yellow stripes on the abdomen.
Source: Wikipedia
Does it bite or sting?
Worker bees have a stinger where an egg-laying organ would be. Drones lack a stinger and have larger eyes and a blunter abdomen.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Colonies build nests of several combs inside cavities that have a small entrance for defense.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
They feed mainly on pollen, nectar and the honey they produce.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
A queen typically mates with ten or more drones. Male drones exist only to mate with the queen and die afterward.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
They are native to South, Southeast and East Asia, including countries such as China, India, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 2 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Pennsylvania, Oregon.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
Do Asian honey bees sting?
Yes, worker Asian honey bees have a stinger and can sting people.
Source: Wikipedia
How can I recognize an Asian honey bee?
They are black with four yellow abdominal stripes and have long hairs covering their eyes.
Source: Wikipedia
Where do Asian honey bees live?
They are native to much of South, Southeast and East Asia, including countries such as China, India, Japan and Indonesia.
Source: Wikipedia
What do Asian honey bees eat?
Their diet consists mainly of pollen, nectar and the honey they make.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Apidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apis_cerana
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.