The European Honey Bee - West Virginia's State Insect

The European Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) was adopted as West Virginia's state insect in 2002. Mellifera is Latin, and means honey-carrying, and apis means bee: honey carrying bee.

The Honey Bee is also the state insect of; Arkansas, North Carolina, New Jersey (state bug), Georgia, Maine, Nebraska, Kansas, Louisiana, Vermont, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Mississippi, Utah, Missouri, Tennessee (official agricultural insect) and Oklahoma.