EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Rock Bee Tree

Rock (Giant Honey) Bee (Apis dorsata laboriosa), Family Apidae
Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal

Explanation:  What is adorning the forest, here in Royal Chitwan National Park, in Chitwan District of southern Nepal?  These are the immense and numerous hives of the rock bee, a.k.a. giant honey bee and Himalayan giant honey bee, by any name the world's largest honey bee.

We had encountered these previously, but in a very different setting, adorning Punakha Dzong Palace in nearby Bhutan.  But this is a view of their natural environment, here in the native forests of a national park.

As one study (Kastberger et al. 2024) describes it, "The nest consists of a single honeycomb covered with the bee curtain which are several layers of worker bees that remain almost motionless with their heads up and abdomens down on the nest surface, except for the mouth area."  

almost 

The taxonomy of the species is a bit uncertain.  Here, I use the Latin name Apis dorsata laboriosa, although some sources separate dorsata and laboriosa as individual full species, with the latter being the content of this week's photos here in southern Nepal.  Regardless, the colony is an amazing encounter, where individual nests can reach almost 5 ft (1.5 m) in length.  

 

Another source (Woyke et al. 2012) notes that the species migrates twice a year, in summer and in winter.  The swarms return to their natal nesting sites after movement away, but often establish new colonies in that general area. 

The honey produced by the colonies is revered, with the price being about five times that of the honey from the far smaller honeybee species.  In Nepal, local peoples (Gurung) use the honey for medicinal and even hallucinogenic properties.  

 

 

Information:
      Kastberger, G., M. Ebner, and T. Hötzl.  2024.  Giant honeybees (Apis dorsata) trade off defensiveness against periodic mass flight activity.  PLoS ONE 19(4):e0298467 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0298467.
      Woyke, J., J. Wilde, and M. Wilde.  2012.  Swarming and migration of Apis dorsata and Apis laboriosa honey bees in India, Nepal and Bhutan.  Journal of Agricultural Science 56(1):81-91. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/v10289-012-0009-7.