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German Black Honeybees (Apis mellifera mellifera) were most likely the first bees to arrive in the United States. Although they are thought to be aggressive and slow to build up colonies in the spring.

Italian Honeybees (Apis mellifera ligustica) became popular in the United States because they were very good honey producers and resistant to most bee diseases. Originating in southern Italy, they are now the most common of all honeybee species in the United States. They are golden to reddish brown in color. They tend to rob other hives while eating their own stored honey quickly.

Carniolan Honeybees (Apis mellifera carnica), from the Austrian Alps and the Danube Valley, are the second most popular bees among U.S. beekeepers. This breed of honeybee is known for swarming and is slow to build up combs. Maybe the gentlest of all honeybees, they are efficient in stocking up for the winter season.

Caucasian Honeybees (Apis mellifera caucasica), from the area near the Black and Caspian seas, are gentle yet they have a tendency to swarm and practically weld their hives shut with propolis.

Russian Honeybees originated in the Primorsky Krai region of south Russia. This breed is considered gentle and good nectar gatherers.

HONEYBEE ANATOMY

A honeybee has five eyes with a combined total of seven thousand hexagonal facets that detect movement, color, and light. Two large compound eyes are sensitive to movement and color, while three smaller ones, located above the compound eyes and called ocelli, are sensitive to light, but cannot see images. Could these hexagon-shaped lenses be responsible for the way honeybees construct their hexagonal shaped honeycombs? I’ve always wondered this, but have not yet discovered the answer.

For chewing and kneading beeswax into honeycomb, the honeybee has a mandible, or jaw. To suck up honey and water, the bee uses its tubelike tongue, called a proboscis.

Two sets of wings and six legs are joined to the thorax. A honeybee’s wings are thin and clear and have veins running through them. They flap 180 times per second, and on average, a honeybee can fly 15 miles per hour. During flight, the wings hook together with a tiny hook, called a hamuli, on the back wings. All six of its legs are segmented and used for walking or grooming. The hindmost legs are covered in hairy baskets, which the bees use to carry pollen. A honeybee’s abdomen houses its reproductive organs and digestive system, as well as its stingers and wax-making glands. Like most insects, the honeybee does not have bones, but instead has a hard, protective outer covering called an exoskeleton. Honeybees have blood but no veins in their bodies, only a single aorta that pumps blood from their four-chambered heart into the head. From there it is circulated around the abdomen freely. They also do not have lungs. Air sacs, or openings, allow oxygen to enter the honeybee’s body. It is then pushed through a tracheal system of small tubes that carry the air to each cell.

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AS WE CONTINUED OUR WALK THROUGH BILLY’S GARDEN, he pointed out that many farms in the state of Connecticut produce fresh fruit and berries and sell their produce exclusively to local farmers’ markets and to bakeries that make delicious fruit pies. Honeybee pollination is crucial to the sustainability and profitability of these farms. Fruits, nuts, and berries start out as flowers. If honeybees do not pollinate the flowers, the flowers will never become the apples, pears, blueberries, blackberries, pumpkins, cranberries, peaches, hazelnuts, chestnuts, almonds, and squash found in the many baked goods we all love. If we enjoyed indulging in these home-baked goodies, Billy warned, then we’d be smart to continue keeping honeybees. During his talk, all I kept thinking was, what would I do without my mother’s apple pie? By keeping honeybees, I would be actually helping Mom by saving the world’s apples.

The group trailed through the gardens until we reached the apiary, which comprised six beehives in all. Billy told the group he had been keeping