Apis mellifera mellifera L., 1758

Zakardjian, Marie, Jourdan, Herve, Cochenille, Thomas, Mahe, Prisca & Geslin, Benoit, 2023, Checklist of the bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) of New Caledonia, Biodiversity Data Journal 11, pp. 105291-105291 : 105291

Apis mellifera mellifera L., 1758

Feeds on

A large range of endemic, native and alien plants (including invasive ones).

Native status

Alien

Distribution

Cosmopolitan subspecies. Ubiquitous in New Caledonia, but absent from Belep Islands and Tiga.

Notes

Before the arrival of Europeans, there were no social bees or honey bees in New Caledonia. Apis mellifera mellifera was first introduced in 1848 from France by priests on Lifu Island for the production of wax candles. It subsequently spread to the mainland and the Isle of Pines in 1853, as well as to Maré during the same period ( Lamaignere 2001, Hervé Jourdan, pers. com.). To our knowledge, Apis mellifera is still absent from Belep Islands and Tiga and abundant elsewhere in the archipelago.