The dwarf honey bee (or red dwarf honey bee), Apis florea, is one of two species of small, wild honey bees of southern and southeastern Asia. It has a much wider distribution than its sister species, Apis andreniformis. First identified in the late 18th century, Apis florea is unique for its morphology, foraging behavior and defensive mechanisms like making a piping noise. Apis florea have open nests and small colonies, which makes them more susceptible to predation than cavity nesters with large numbers of defensive workers. These honey bees are important pollinators and therefore commodified in countries like Cambodia. Taxonomy and phylogeny Danish zoologist Johan Christian Fabricius first identified Apis florea in 1787. A. florea is a member of the Apis genus. The Apidae is a diverse family of bees including honey bees, orchid bees, bumble bees, stingless bees, cuckoo bees and carpenter bees. The name Florea is a personal name of Romanian origin. A. florea is native to southeast Asia, and therefore one of the most phylogenetically basal bees. This suggests that honeybees originated in this region, with A. florea being one of the oldest and potentially similar to ancestors; therefore its first appearance in phylogeny occurs before that of A. mellifera and A. cerena. A. mellifera most likely evolved from A. florea and then migrated to Europe. A. florea, a dwarf honeybee, is a sister species of Apis andreniformis. These sister species are the most ancient honeybee lineage, most likely diverging in the Bartonian era. Description and identification A. florea is called the dwarf honey bee due to its small size compared to other honeybees. A worker is typically 7–10 mm in body length and its overall coloration is red-brown. A colony builds a single, exposed comb usually on tree branches or shrubs. A. florea produce honey that is harvested and eaten in Thailand and Cambodia. They are excellent pollinators, which gives them an important ecological role in the places they inhabit. Drones carry a thumb-like bifurcation called the basitarsus, which is located two-thirds along the length of the tibia. The fimbriate lobe of A. florea has three protrusions and they sting using two stylet barbs. Apis florea and its sister species together comprise the subgenus Micrapis, and are the most primitive of the living species of Apis, reflected in their small colony size, and simple nest construction. The exposed single combs are built on branches of shrubs