สำนักงานราชบัณทิตยสภา

The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Volume IV - 2012 81  discovered that some red dwarf honeybees build their hive on a tall building or under the eaves outside the house. Still, this particular case is very rare. Normally, the comb is approximately 1-15 m. above the ground. This wild red dwarf honeybee is the most common species to be hunted by the bee hunters. Moreover, their honey is sold everywhere in suburban markets of Thailand. Their honey combs are the most popular among honey consumers. Therefore, in the future, it is very likely that a red dwarf honeybee will become a well known commercial species as well as their honey to be certi fi ed as the organic honey. In Bangkok, it is possible to fi nd a red dwarf honeybee comb on a building or a tree such as a rain tree or yellow fl ame tree that is more than 15 m. tall. Combs of red dwarf honeybees and black dwarf honeybees are very similar. These two types of honeybees can be distinguished from each other through a slight difference in terms of morphology. A black dwarf honeybee has black and white color stripes while a red dwarf honeybee’s stripes are yellow-orange and black. The fi rst stripe of a black dwarf honeybee is black whereas a red dwarf honeybee’s is yellow-orange. The other difference between the black dwarf honeybee and the red dwarf honey bee is the reproductive organ of the drone, the lines of the wing, and the tip of the back leg. The distribution of a red dwarf honeybee covers the Southern area of China, the East of India, and South East Asia, which is an area located on a higher latitude than a black dwarf honeybee population. Currently, there is an evidence reporting that red dwarf honeybees distribution expands to Oman. Currently, the farmers in Oman keep them as the commercial bees (Peterson, 2011). Red dwarf honeybees can be found in all parts of Thailand except in the Southern region. Moreover, there are no red dwarf honeybees in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Philippines. Red dwarf honeybees are more fl exible and adaptable in infertile areas than black dwarf honeybees. Therefore, red dwarf honeybees have more diversity and more places to build their combs than any other honeybees. One of the obvious examples is that red dwarf honeybees are the only species of honeybee that can survive in a region with heat that exceeds 40 degree Celsius. Red dwarf honeybees and black dwarf honeybees create a sticky band to cover branches and twigs that cover their comb as a protection from their enemies such as ants. This behavior does not occur in giant honeybees or any other honeybees. Siriwat Wongsiri , Chanpen Chanchoa and Pichai Kongpitak