Martin Z Sutis Blog

Members of the family Halictidae, or sweat bees, are the most common type of bee in the Northern Hemisphere, though they are small and often mistaken for wasps or flies. The largest bee in the world is Megachile pluto, a leafcutter bee whose females can attain a length of 39mm. The smallest bee is Trigona minima, a stingless buy honey bees whose workers are about 2.1mm long. They have antennae almost universally made up of 13 segments in males and 12 in females, as is typical for the superfamily. Bees have a long proboscis that enables them to obtain the nectar from flowers. Bees are adapted for feeding on nectar and pollen, the former primarily as an energy source and the latter primarily for protein and other nutrients.