European honey bee in the context of Queen bee

Apis cerana indica, the Indian honey bee, is a subspecies of Asiatic honey bee. It is one of the predominant bees found and domesticated in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand and mainland Asia. Relatively non-aggressive and rarely exhibiting swarming behavior, it is ideal for beekeeping.

It is similar to the European honeybee (Apis mellifera), which tends to be slightly larger and can be easily distinguished.

The pollen basket or corbicula (plural corbiculae) is part of the tibia on the hind legs of the female of certain species of bees. They use the structure in harvesting pollen and carrying it to the nest or hive where it is used as food by the colony.

Bee species with no pollen baskets have scopae, which fulfil a similar role.

Pollination management is the horticultural practices that accomplish or enhance pollination of a crop, to improve yield or quality, by understanding of the particular crop's pollination needs, and by knowledgeable management of pollenizers, pollinators, and pollination conditions.

While people think first of the European honey bee when pollination comes up, in fact there are many different means of pollination management that are used, both other insects and other mechanisms. There are other insects commercially available that are more efficient, like the blue orchard bee for fruit and nut trees, local bumblebees better specialized for some other crops, hand pollination that is essential for production of hybrid seeds and some greenhouse situations, and even pollination machines.

The Carniolan honey bee (Apis mellifera carnica, Pollmann) is a subspecies of the European honey bee. The Carniolan honey bee is native to Slovenia, southern Austria, and parts of Albania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, parts of Serbia, Hungary, parts of Romania and North-East Italy.