Honey Bee

Apis (Apis) mellifera Linnaeus

The introduced honeybee, Apis mellifera, the most polylectic of all bees, assiduously works Larrea flowers for pollen and nectar in those areas where the workers have access to the plants growing along permanent desert water courses, lakes, or various impoundments where year-around access to moisture and forage is available to sustain feral colonies or where commercial apiaries are temporarily or permanently maintained in the vicinity. Thus, over vast areas of the Larrea belt where these conditions do not exist, the flowers are inaccessible to honeybees, and all-day surveys will fail to encounter a single individual.

Appendix: Tables