Are bumblebees honey-producers?
They can,but they aren’t too useful for it. Honey is obtained commercially from 4 species of genus Apis. The western honeybee A. mellifera is the most important and widely used. It is native to Europe, Asia Minor and Africa. The Asiatic hive bee A. cerana is the most important Asian species. The giant A. dorsata and dwarf A. florea bees are also Asian species, but they nest in the open and cannot be kept in hives. Wild honey is sometimes harvested from their nests. Stingless bees are sometimes kept in log hives or specially designed nest boxes. They produce honey in smaller amounts than do honeybees. All of these bees form perennial societies, and store honey to help the colony survive periods of dearth, including the winter season in temperate climatic zones. This characteristic makes it possible for the beekeeper to harvest surplus honey. Most other wild bees (eg, bumblebees) feed on nectar but do not store it in great excess and so are not useful for honey production.
