ABSTRACT
In Africa and Europe only one species of Apis -- Apis mellifera -occurs naturally, and its mating behaviour seems to be rather uniform over all its range. Comparative studies of mating systems in the Asian honey bee species and Apis mellifera might give us some ideas about which aspects of the mating system to increase the fitness of the honey bee colony and which characters ensure reproductive isolation. Apis mellifera drones produce a high surplus of spermatozoa, more than the spermatheca can hold. The sperm are injected into the oviducts. Drones of A. florea and A. andreniformis can inject their spermatozoa directly into the spermatheca. Because of this different mechanism in sperm transfer there are principal differences in the shape of the endophalli. Multiple mating by the queen and the occurence of matings outside of the vicinity of the colony is a general character in all species.
