Apis mellifera

The honey bee, Apis mellifera (European Honey Bee, Western Honey Bee), is one of several species of bees in the family Apidae, that produce honey. They are native to Europe and Africa, but now is distributed worldwide, because of their use in beekeeping. There are about 28 dozen recognized subspecies of Apis mellifera.
In Pakistan, thee are four species of honey bees. In which 3 species Apis dorsata, Apis cerana, and Apis florea are indigenous. The forth species Apis mellifera, is imported and established in Pakistan.
Beekeeping is a profitable business in Pakistan. About 7,000 beekeepers are now rearing exotic species, Apis mellifera in the modern beehives. There are about 300,000 colonies producing 7,500 metric ton honey annually. Congenial climate conditions and bee flora in the country provide excellent opportunities for the expansion of beekeeping. Honeybee flora is present on vast areas in all the provinces including Northern areas, FATA and AJK and can support 1,000,000 honeybee colonies. Pakistan Agricultural Research Counci (PARC), is playing an important role by providing training to the individuals and groups of various organizations and also arrange special training courses on request.

Source: Pakistan Agricultural Research Council

Apis cerana, commonly known as the Asian honey bee or the Eastern honey bee is a species of honey bee (Family: Apidae, Subfamily: Apinae) found in southern and southeastern Asia. This species is the sister species of Apis koschevnikovi, and both are in the same subgenus as the Western (European) honey bee, Apis mellifera. There are eight subspecies of A. cerana currently recognized. They are about 10mm long. They prefer to nest in cavities, such as hollowed out tree trunks. They make multiple comb. Their honey yield is smaller, because they form smaller colonies. They are not aggressive, but any attempt to open the nest, will cause bees to fly out and sting the intruder.

The red dwarf honey bee (Apis florea) is a species of small, wild honey bees in the family Apidae, genus Apis, subgenus Micrapis. It's found in southern and southeastern Asia. The honey of this species is considered the best and is very expensive as compare to the honey of other species, particularly domesticated honey bees. In our area the population of Apis florea have been decreased by about 80 percent in the last 15 years. According to the local people this drastic decrease is due to domesticated honey bees, which pest on them. The other common reason which comes in my mind is the excessive spray of pesticides. Last year I observed only one nest, which you see in the last photo.