I think right now Apis (honey bees) contains 9 species, there are divided into 4
groups -- originally as 4 species when I learned the taxonomy in graduate school.

A. mellifera* (our bees here in NA)

A. cerana* -sister species of mellfiera, original host of Varroa jacobsoni
A. koschenikovi
A. nigrocincta
A. nuluensis   -- the above 3 species recently split from A. cerana (last decade)

A. dorsata* -- giant honey bees
A. laboriosa -- black giant bees, recognized as a new species around 1986.

A. florea* -- dwarf honey bees
A. andreniformis* -- black dwarf bees, recently recognized.

you can see 5 species of them in my photo collection: http://photo.bees.net/gallery.
simply search for the ones marked with * above.

http://cyberbee.msu.edu/biology/ch1/ gives an overview of the Apis genus.

Zachary Huang
http://cyberbee.msu.edu

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::