African Stingless Bee vs Common Furrow Bee

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute African Stingless Bee Common Furrow Bee
Scientific Name Meliponula bocandei Halictus rubicundus
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Apidae Halictidae
Size 5-8 mm 9-11 mm
Habitat Forests Underground
Diet Nectar Feeders Nectar Feeders
Regions West Africa, Central Africa Europe, North America, Asia
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

African Stingless Bee

A small dark stingless bee that nests in tree hollows and produces a prized thin honey. Colonies can number several thousand workers.

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Did You Know?

Their honey is traditionally valued in West African medicine and can sell for ten times the price of regular honey.

Common Furrow Bee

A widespread sweat bee found across the Northern Hemisphere that displays flexible social behavior. In warmer regions they are primitively eusocial; in colder climates they are solitary.

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Did You Know?

They switch between solitary and social lifestyles depending on latitude and climate, making them key to studying social evolution.