Apis dorsata: the “Giant” Honey Bee

A Migratory Honey Bee Species from Southern Asia

The giant honey bee Apis dorsata is native to south- and south-east Asia. Known for building large, exposed combs, A. dorsata colonies have seasonal migration patterns, moving from areas of low to high forage availability. In their native range, they are pollinators of wild plants and local agricultural crops, as well as a major source of wild honey for local economies.

Comparing Apis dorsata & Apis mellifera

The table above listed differences in terms of the overall bee length. In A. dorsata & A. mellifera, the size difference also makes for:

• A longer tongue, for accessing flowers with deeper nectaries.

• A greater foraging range. A. dorsata may forage at temperatures and altitudes inaccessible by A. mellifera. The larger honey bee’s wings and stronger muscles provide more energy in colder climates and can thus reach higher altitudes.

  • This energy generation is partly what makes A. dorsata able to forage at night (Young et al., 2021).

• A greater sensory capabilities and higher metabolic rate. Differences in metabolic rate could influence differences in the profitability of specific resources (is that small blossom of eucalyptus really worth it…?), as well as the minimum ambient temperature at which bees can fly.

Apis dorsata & Tropilaelaps Mites

While Varroa holds the spotlight as the most dangerous honey bee mite, A. dorsata is the primary host of Tropilaelaps (Four species: T. clareae, T. koenigerum, T. mercedesae, and T. thaii; Mortensen et al., 2022). A. mellifera is susceptible to parasitization by this mite, and this has been shown in areas where both A. mellifera and A. dorsata colonies coexist. One can easily see how destructive this mite pest would be in regions where bees rear brood throughout the year, like Australia or Africa.

As with Varroa, the mated female Tropilaelaps enters brood cells to feed on haemolymph and laying eggs. The feeding results in body deformities and a shortened lifespan in the adult bee, with severe infections leading to colony collapse.

Tropilaelaps mites have a shorter reproductive cycle than Varroa at 10-12 days. They are lighter-orange colour in appearance, with an elongated, elliptical shape compared to the flat red circle of V. destructor. Treatments for Tropilaelaps are similar to Varroa, including chemical methods, requeening hives with disease-resistant stock and integrated pest management techniques.

How Big is a Giant Honey Bee Colony?

A. dorsata nests in the open on a single comb covered by a protective curtain of bees (Mardan & Kevan 2002). Open-nesting bees maintain less brood per worker compared to cavity-nesting species (i.e. Apis mellifera or Apis cerana). This is because they have less comb area per worker¹, which influences the foraging decisions at the colony and individual worker level due to differing resource needs.

A single colony can have up to 100,000 bees (Paar et al., 2004). Considering that colonies nest a few meters from another, this make for very packed bee trees (more on that below). The same cell that is used for honey storage is used for brood rearing, unlike in A. mellifera where there is a dedicated brood and honey area.

Where Can Giant Honey Bees be Found?

When in urban southern Asia, look up. Many colonies are found on multi-storeyed buildings, followed by trees, and water tanks (Nagaraja, 2017). High rise buildings provide suitable protection from wind, heavy rains and intense sunlight. Their natural range extends from the Indian subcontinent to south east Asia and part of the Philippines (Ruttner, 1988).

Trees are their ideal hive, and multiple bee colonies will form on designated “bee trees”. A. dorsata colonies form a single large comb suspended from trees, with no differentiation between comb for brood rearing and honey storage. The greater the height above ground, the more likely a tree limb is selected as a nest site.

Migratory Lifecycle of Apis dorsata Colonies

Extracted from the Migration of Bees

A. dorsata migrates in response to the seasonal changes and availability of flowering plants. The environmental triggers for this behaviour are multi-factorial, such as the onset of the monsoons, or a significant decrease in forage at the end of major flowering periods.

In northern Thailand, this giant honey bee migration alternates between highland and lowland nesting sites. The colonies produce reproductive swarms in the highlands and then build nests at the lowlands (Robinson, 2021).

Depending on the season, an entire colony swarms to a new location without leaving daughter queens in the previous nest. A. dorsata‘s swarm decision-making process is not fully understood. Like A. mellifera, the worker bees turn into scouts who search for suitable nesting locations including tree branches, cliff faces and buildings. Once scouts find a suitable home, they conduct waggle dances to convince the swarm on the most suitable nesting site.

The research of Robinson, 2012 and Robinson, 2021 showed that A. dorsata have communal bivouacking sites where the giant swarms will “rest” for a short number of days before continuing. Resting sites tend to be resource rich, and multiple A. dorsata swarms will rest alongside each other before continuing on their journey, as in the image above.

Management of Giant Honey Bees

A. dorsata colonies are a true wild species, and colonies are not managed like A. mellifera or A. cerana. They are found in high densities, with Oldroyd & colleagues (2000) reporting over 120 colonies on a single tree (in this case the rainforest tree Kompassia excelsa); each colony constructing comb a few centimeters from the other. Note that these are not mother-daughter colonies, rather unrelated colonies nesting on a single tree.

The enterprising beekeeper (read: honey hunter) can see a great opportunity for a bountiful harvest from these densely-packed comb. Large nests of A. dorsata can yield up to 36kg of honey annually, providing an additional source of income. Since humans (those cheeky fellas…) are prone to overextraction, conservation efforts are underway with a focus to only remove the honey comb during harvests, and not the brood.

Further, these migrating giant honey bees have been shown to return to their nests/abandoned comb years after departure (Oldroyd et al., 2000; Robinson, 2012). As such, there is benefit in leaving abandoned comb largely unscathed for the next migration of A. dorsata.

Beekeeping for Apis dorsata

Some attempts have been made to “domesticate” A. dorsata colonies. Rafter beekeeping in South East Asia uses wooden planks (“tikung”) to provide the migrating colonies with a nesting site (Tan et al., 1996; Cesard, 2013 for a video). The success of this method lies in a setup within areas of low cover (eg: mangrove marshes). The natural beehive is is high up in trees, and in the absence of such elevated locations, the tikung is more likely to be selected.

No exact reference on the weight of honey harvested per tikung is available. However Tan and colleagues (1996) observed that the thicker the rafter, the more likely it is hold more honey as the structure can withstand the increased bee mass.

Apis dorsata Colonies are Prone to Small Hive Beetle Infestation

As part of a routine survey in the mangrove forests in West Bengal, a colony of A. dorsata was spotted with unusual damage: half-sized comb (Garain et al., 2026). The typical colony shape was absent, instead there was a truncated “u-shape”. The author found the lower portion of the comb on the ground, right below the nesting site with “dark brown adult beetles”‘ hiding underneath and “creamy white larvae” crawling throughout the structure. The recovered honey was covered with a slimy substance that smelled just like a slimed-out hive.

The European honey bee keepers among you may be thinking, “hang on, don’t adult small hive beetles try to avoid the light? How are they managing on the exposed comb of A. dorsata?”. The authors speculate that it is a behavioural adaptation of Aethina tumida that drove adults to seek exposed comb² (Garain et al., 2026).

It does impose a risk to the remaining nests of A. dorsata, both occupied and unoccupied ones (i.e. due to migration). Further, the human bee hunters of wild colonies also know to take the honey and leave the brood intact, thus ensuring the colony survives, alas small hive beetles do not know such moderation. Can other open-nesting honey bee species be impacted too?

An Even Giant-er Honey Bee

Apis dorsata is frequently referred to as the “giant honey bee”. However, there is another, Apis laboriosa, which is larger in size than A. dorsata. The colonies of A. laborisa are found at high altitudes, within the Himalaya Mountains, 1000-3000 meters above sea level. Their range extends from “the mountains of northern Vietnam, southward along the Arakan Mountains to west-central Myanmar, into the Shillong Hills of Meghalaya, India, and northwestward in Uttarakhand, India” (Kitnya et al., 2020).

Both A. dorsata & A. laboriosa are called “giant honey bees” in the general literature. Scientists differentiate the two by referring to A. dorsata as the “lowlands” giant honey bee, and the other, “highlands”³. Despite previous studies such as Hepburn & Radloff (2010) reporting differing geographical distributions, Kitnya and colleagues (2020) noted five regions where the two species were found foraging together. (“Sympatrically” – meaning that they occurred the same or overlapping geographical area.)

Whether this proximity leads to a hybrid honey bee species (by matings between the two), the evidence is inconclusive.

Honey Bees Active at Night?

Bees must overcome serious evolutionary limitations in order to fly at night. Their compound eyes are built for vision under sunlight, and are ineffective in dim (moon) light. The solitary sweat bee Megalopta genalis only forages during two time windows: right after sunset, and right before sunrise⁴ (Kelber et al., 2006). Theobald and colleagues (2006) believe that this possible through “spatial summation”, where M. genalis takes various cues like visual and olfactory to generate a mental map of the terrain, enabling them to forage at night.

The larger compound eyes of A. dorsata contain larger ommatidia (the individual unit in each eye); giving them better visual sensitivity in dim lights (Somanathan et al., 2009). Their simple eyes, the ocelli, sit a greater angle, higher up on their head.

Sufficient heat generation is an issue at night, and the larger body size provides stronger heat generation for A. dorsata. In reality, this isn’t a factor for nighttime flight in A. dorsata as they have been observed less able to fly at lower ambient temperatures in comparison than the smaller A. cerana and A. mellifera (Young et al., 2021).

Workers bees in A. dorsata colonies forage throughout the night if the moon is at least half full (Young et al., 2021). In cities with light pollution, they are capable using the artificial sky glow, even when the moon is below the horizon. The bees collect nectar from from night-time secreting plants like the night-blooming Jasmine (Cestrum nocturnum) or Moonflowers (Ipomoea alba). This ability to forage on moonlit nights provides an advantage over the competition as they can gather resources when other honey bee competitors are unable to fly.

A Western Honey Bee Species Active at Dim Light?

The African honey bee Apis mellifera adansonii also navigates at dim lights (Wokye 1992). In Ghana, these bees started their flight during early parts of the morning before the sunrise, searching for suitable forage. If you know more, about this topic, please let your dear author know.

Researcher Attempts to Make Apis mellifera Fly at Night

Sounds like a news headline doesn’t it? In Dyer’s 1985 paper, he describes his attempts to make A. mellifera fly on a moonlit night. After all, if their cousin Apis dorsata can do it, why can’t they? Using the locally available “Yankee bees” (hybrids decedent from several subspecies of A. mellifera), he set up a feeding station near a hive.

The honey bees, as expected, stopped their visits at around 6:20 pm each night, even on full moons or very bright sunsets. The temperature remained high between 19-23°C, yet the bees did not fly. Not be to outdone, the author tossed bees into the air, and found them plainly drifting towards the ground, rather than attacking him or returning to their hive.

He concludes that they either could not see, or lacked the motivation to fly at night, contrasting the Asian honey bees who would fly back to their hive even when thrown on moonless nights, presumably via odour cues. So why doesn’t A. mellifera have such adaptations? Questions for Plato…

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Footnotes

1. For example. there are two A. dorsata worker bees for every one hexagonal comb. Compare this to 10+ workers for every comb in a “large” Western honey bee colony. Having both comb and bees available for brood rearing would shift a colony’s focus on this process, rather than purely honey production. The exact numbers vary, this example demonstrates the density of bees in a colony. ↩︎
2. Perhaps it could be due to “desperation”, as in there are no suitable cavity colonies nearby or they are fiercely defending (possible for A. mellifera, unlikely for the skittish A. cerana). As a result of chance, the one beetle that landed on open comb found itself still alive and unmolested, where it proceeded to lay eggs and reproduce, with the larvae being none the wiser, digging and eating and defecating. ↩︎
3. Honey hunters in the Himalayan mountains differentiate between the two giant species as follows:
   – If the bees have a black abdomen and are found on cliffs, they are the “cliff bees” – Apis laboriosa.
   – If the bees have an orange abdomen and are found on trees, they are the “tree bees” Apis dorsata. ↩︎
4. “Crepuscular” is the term given to these insects active at these twilight/dawn intervals. ↩︎