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Honey bees (Apis)

In Europe this group has one species, in the family Apidae.

Family Apidae1 species
1
Species in Europe
0
Threatened (CR, EN or VU)
0
Too little data to assess (DD)
31
Crops on which species were recorded

How the species are doing

Distribution of the species over the categories of the European Red List of Bees (2026). Not assessed means: no European assessment in the source, often because the species only occurs at the edge of Europe.

  • - Not assessed: 1

Scale, from severe to not threatened: CR critically endangered, EN endangered, VU vulnerable, NT near threatened, LC least concern. DD: data deficient.

When the visitors fly

Number of species flying per month, according to the flight calendar from open records in Europe. A species counts in every month it flies.

Crops these bees visit

Crops and other plants with an EPPO code on which species from this group were recorded.

CropDepends on pollinatorsSpecies from this groupRecords
RapeseedBrassica napusmodest (10-39%)1162
Common sunflowerHelianthus annuusmodest (10-39%)149
Red raspberryRubus idaeusgreat (40-89%)142
Briar roseRosa caninagreat (40-89%)127
AppleMalus domesticagreat (40-89%)124
SoybeanGlycine maxmodest (10-39%)122
BlackthornPrunus spinosagreat (40-89%)121
BilberryVaccinium myrtillusgreat (40-89%)118
Sweet cherryPrunus aviumgreat (40-89%)113
Black elderSambucus nigramodest (10-39%)111
Broad beanVicia fabamodest (10-39%)18
Black mustardBrassica nigramodest (10-39%)14
PumpkinCucurbita pepoessential (90-100%)14
PlumPrunus domesticagreat (40-89%)14
Common pearPyrus communisgreat (40-89%)14
FennelFoeniculum vulgaregreat (40-89%)13
Sour cherryPrunus cerasusgreat (40-89%)13
TurnipBrassica rapagreat (40-89%)12
CarawayCarum carvimodest (10-39%)12
AzaroleCrataegus azaroluslittle (1-9%)12
Sweet chestnutCastanea sativamodest (10-39%)12
QuinceCydonia oblongaunknown12
BuckwheatFagopyrum esculentumgreat (40-89%)12
Garden strawberryFragaria ananassamodest (10-39%)12
Runner beanPhaseolus coccineuslittle (1-9%)12
French beanPhaseolus vulgarislittle (1-9%)12
Black currantRibes nigrummodest (10-39%)12
White mustardSinapis albamodest (10-39%)12
Tree-strawberryArbutus unedomodest (10-39%)11
PeachPrunus persicagreat (40-89%)11
Common mountain ashSorbus aucupariaessential (90-100%)11

All species in Europe

SpeciesRed List EuropeFliesOnly in Europe
Honey beeApis mellifera- Not assessed Dec - Aug

Sources

This page only uses sources with an open licence. The bee database itself contains more records, from sources for which permission is still pending.

  1. Vliegperiode per maand, afgeleid uit BeeBDC-waarnemingen met open licentie (CC0 / CC BY)
    FairGrow (afgeleid) · version 1.3.4 · licence CC BY 4.0 (afgeleid uit CC0 / CC BY)
    Afgeleid door FairGrow uit: Dorey, J. B. et al. (2023). A globally synthesised and flagged bee occurrence dataset and cleaning workflow. Scientific Data 10: 747. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02626-w. Cleaned database v1.3.4 (2024-02-15), Figshare. Kleinste maandvenster met 90% van de waarnemingen, minimaal 20 records.
    doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02626-w
  2. Bij-plantinteracties: EuPPollNet via GloBI (CC BY 4.0)
    GloBI / Big Bee · version 7.0 · licence CC BY 4.0
    Lanuza, J. B. et al. (2025). EuPPollNet: a European database of plant-pollinator networks. Zenodo 10.5281/zenodo.15183272 (CC BY 4.0), via Seltmann, K. et al. / Big Bee project and GloBI (2025). Global Bee Interaction Data v7.0. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17957582. Underlying data: Global Biotic Interactions (Poelen et al. 2014).
    doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17957582
  3. Bij-plantinteracties: DoPI via GloBI (CC BY 4.0)
    GloBI / Big Bee · version 7.0 · licence CC BY 4.0
    Balfour, N. J. et al. Database of Pollinator Interactions (DoPI). Zenodo 10.5281/zenodo.15224385 (CC BY 4.0), via Seltmann, K. et al. / Big Bee project and GloBI (2025). Global Bee Interaction Data v7.0. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17957582. Underlying data: Global Biotic Interactions (Poelen et al. 2014).
    doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17957582
  4. Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila), tab-delimited version
    Zenodo / Discover Life · version v57.0 · licence CC-BY-4.0
    Ascher, J. S. and J. Pickering. 2024. Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila). http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?guide=Apoidea_species Draft-57, 27 February, 2024
    doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19954082
  5. BeeBDC beesChecklist: country checklist of the world's bees (Discover Life), 2026-01-12
    Flinders University / Figshare · version 2026-01-12 · licence CC BY 4.0
    Dorey, J. B. et al. (2023). A globally synthesised and flagged bee occurrence dataset and cleaning workflow. Scientific Data 10: 747. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02626-w; beesChecklist 2026-01-12 (Figshare, CC BY 4.0), based on the Discover Life country checklist (Ascher & Pickering).
    doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02626-w
  6. European Red List of Bees (2026), Appendix 1: Red List status at Pan-Europe and EU27 levels
    Publications Office of the European Union / IUCN · version 2026 · licence CC BY 4.0
    Michez, D. et al. (2026). European Red List of Bees. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. https://doi.org/10.2779/521877 (CC BY 4.0). Appendix 1.
    doi.org/10.2779/521877
  7. Wikidata: taxon common names (P1843) and labels of bee species
    Wikimedia Foundation / Wikidata · version SPARQL 2026-10-18 · licence CC0 1.0
    Wikidata contributors. Wikidata, taxon common names (P1843) and labels, retrieved 2026-10-18. https://www.wikidata.org (CC0).
    www.wikidata.org

Other groups in the family Apidae

Nomad Bees (Nomada)EuceraAnthophoraBumble Bees (Bombus)Small Carpenter Bees (Ceratina)MelectaTetraloniellaEpeolusAmegillaAmmobatesThyreusCarpenter Bees (Xylocopa)AncylaAmmobatoidesHabropodaBiastes

Which bees fly around your field?

In the FairGrow bee database you see the species in the cells around your own fields and apiaries, with flight weather and forage landscape.

Open the bee database →Back to the knowledge base
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