Hey everyone. I generally manage to do a monthly or bi-monthly bee photography post and today was no different, other than 1 small detail.. Capensis bees which are not supposed to exist in the highveld where I reside, but took a few pics to compare the two species I did.
As per www.wikipedia.org
The Cape honey bee or Cape bee (Apis mellifera capensis) is a southern South African subspecies of the western honey bee. They play a major role in South African agriculture and the economy of the Western Cape by pollinating crops and producing honey in the Western Cape region of South Africa more here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_honey_bee
The smaller darker capensis not popular in these parts by local bee-keepers they are considered invasive even.
Now for the scuttellata a certain clear marked difference with the yellow and black stripes relative, to her smaller darker Cape species counterpart.
A quick definition here as per Wikipedia.org:
The East African lowland honey bee (Apis mellifera scutellata) is a subspecies of the western honey bee. It is native to central, southern and eastern Africa, though at the southern extreme it is replaced by the Cape honey bee (Apis mellifera capensis).[1] This subspecies has been determined to constitute one part of the ancestry of the Africanized bees (also known as "killer bees") spreading through North and South America.[2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_bee
We have around 30 hives of swarms of the larger more golden/yellow scuttellata seen in these last pics endemic to my area.
Love light and blessings.
Have a fantastic weekend.
Cheer$;)