Workers measure only about 7–10 millimetres, the smallest of all Apis bees. The abdomen is reddish-brown with whitish bands, giving them a light, pale look.
It lives in warm regions from Oman and Iran through Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka to Southeast Asia. It is absent north of the Himalayas and seldom found above 1,500 metres. Since 1985 it has been established in Sudan, most likely introduced by people, and is spreading along the Nile.
The nest is a single small comb, often less than 25 centimetres across, hanging from a slender branch usually 1–8 metres above the ground. The top of the comb widens into a crest that wraps around the branch – honey is stored there, and the bees dance on its flat upper surface.
Colonies hold just a few thousand bees, covering the comb three or four deep. They are gentle but abandon their nest and move on readily.
A nest yields only a few hundred grams of honey, yet people in South Asia and Arabia still gather it, cutting off the whole comb together with the branch. The dwarf honey bee cannot be kept in hives.