Western honey bee worker head. Stacked macrophotograph of the head of a western honey bee. The western, or European, honey bee (Apis mellifera) is the most common species of honey bee worldwide. Honey bee workers gather pollen into the pollen baskets on their back legs and carry it back to the hive where it is used as food for the developing brood. The image shows the head with a compound eye, the antennae and the proboscis (tongue made of fused labial glossae).