Apis mellifera syriaca

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Apis mellifera syriaca
Apis mellifera syriaca 01.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Genus: Apis
Species:
Subspecies:
A. m. syriaca
Trinomial name
Apis mellifera syriaca
Skorikov 1929 [1]
Synonyms [1]
  • Apis mellifica unicolor variety syriaca (Buttel-Reepen 1906)
  • Apis syriaca (Skorikov 1929)
  • Apis mellifera siriaca (Kerr and Amaral 1960)

Apis mellifera syriaca is known by the common name of the Syrian honey bee, sometimes also called the Palestine honey bee. [1]

It occurs from northern Syria, through Lebanon and to Palestine, or southern Israel into the Negev desert and extending past the Jordan Valley into Jordan. [1] [2]

It has been claimed that the A. m. syriaca has adaptions to deal with attacks from Vespa orientalis and Merops orientalis by remaining within the hive to avoid predation, also its colonies are usually free of the pollen beetle Cryptophagus hexagonalis when compared to Apis mellifera ligustica colonies in the same area. [3]

In a 2013 study they were shown to have a comparable hygienic behavior (which if sufficient can result in Varroa destructor resistance) with descendants of Apis mellifera carnica bees from Europe. [4]

The A. m. syriaca characteristics have been reported to include higher levels of aggression, reduced brood rearing during the hottest months, frequent absconding, as well as excessive production of swarm cells, but with the unusual habit of maintaining multiple virgin queens within a colony in which the reigning queen has left, until a new virgin is successfully mated, thus reducing the risk of the colony becoming queenless. Their reported very low honey yields, along with their higher levels of aggression and significant swarmyness, make them unsuited to modern beekeeping. As a result, mainly A. m. ligustica but also A. m. carnica queens are regularly imported into the region. [3]

Genetic analysis conducted on honey bees collected from multiple locations in Jordan, showed that the bees were all A. m. syriaca, with no detectable introgression from European subspecies, even from hives in which A. m. syriaca and A. m. ligustica were kept within the same area. The authors were unable to explain the apparent lack of hybridization. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honey bee</span> Colonial flying insect of genus Apis

A honey bee is a eusocial flying insect within the genus Apis of the bee clade, all native to mainland Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosmopolitan distribution of honey bees, introducing multiple subspecies into South America, North America, and Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Africanized bee</span> Hybrid species of bee

The Africanized bee, also known as the Africanized honey bee (AHB) and colloquially as the "killer bee", is a hybrid of the western honey bee, produced originally by crossbreeding of the East African lowland honey bee (A. m. scutellata) with various European honey bee subspecies such as the Italian honey bee (A. m. ligustica) and the Iberian honey bee (A. m. iberiensis).

The Buckfast bee is a breed of honey bee, a cross of many subspecies and their strains, developed by Brother Adam, who was in charge of beekeeping from 1919 at Buckfast Abbey in Devon in the United Kingdom. Breeding of the Buckfast bee is now done by breeders throughout Europe belonging to the Federation of European Buckfast Beekeepers (G.D.E.B.). This organization maintains a pedigree for Buckfast bees, originating from the time of Brother Adam.

Within biological taxonomy, a honey bee race would be an informal rank in the taxonomic hierarchy, below the level of subspecies. It has been used as a higher rank than strain, with several strains making up one race. Therefore, a strain is a lower-level taxonomic rank used at the intraspecific level within a race of a subspecies. Strains are often seen as inherently artificial concepts, more usually within biology as characterized by a specific intent for genetic isolation, however, within beekeeping circles, strain is more likely to be used to describe very minor differences throughout the same subspecies, such as the color ranges of A. m. carnica from brown to grey. Within A. m. ligustica there are two races, the darker leather brown northern Italian bee from the Ligurian Alps region which was discovered to be resistant to acarine in the 1900s, while the other Italian bee race, from regions near Bologna and further south, was highly susceptible to acarine and within this race there are two color strains, the traditional Italian yellow and a rarer all-golden color.

<i>European dark bee</i> Subspecies of honey bee

The Apis mellifera mellifera is a subspecies of the western honey bee, evolving in central Asia, with a proposed origin of the Tien Shan Mountains and later migrating into eastern and then northern Europe after the last ice age from 9,000BC onwards. Its original range included the southern Urals in Russia and stretched through northern Europe and down to the Pyrenees. They are one of the two members of the 'M' lineage of Apis mellifera, the other being in western China. Traditionally they were called the Black German Bee, although they are now considered endangered in Germany. However today they are more likely to be called after the geographic / political region in which they live such as the British Black Bee, the Native Irish Honey Bee, the Cornish Black Bee and the Nordic Brown Bee, even though they are all the same subspecies, with the word "native" often inserted by local beekeepers, even in places where the bee is an introduced foreign species. It was domesticated in Europe and hives were brought to North America in the colonial era in 1622 where they were referred to as the English Fly by the Native Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian bee</span> Subspecies of honey bee

Apis mellifera ligustica is the Italian bee or the Italian Honey bee which is a subspecies of the western honey bee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian honey bee</span> Breed of bee

The Russian honeybee refers to honey bees that originate in the Primorsky Krai region of Russia. This strain of bee was imported into the United States in 1997 by the USDA Agricultural Research Service's Honeybee Breeding, Genetics & Physiology Laboratory in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in response to severe declines in bee populations caused by infestations of parasitic mites, and has been used in breeding programs to improve existing stocks. Many Russian queens openly mate with drones from various stock, creating colonies that are genetically hybrid. Some of these 'uncontrolled' hybrids may exhibit "increased aggressiveness, reduced honey production and a decrease in their ability to withstand mites and detrimental expressions of other traits as well."

The Maltese honey bee, Apis mellifera ruttneri, is a subspecies of the western honey bee, endemic to the Maltese islands which are situated in the Mediterranean Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East African lowland honey bee</span> Subspecies of honey bee native to Africa

The East African lowland honey bee is a subspecies of the western honey bee. It is native to central, southern and eastern Africa, though at the southern extreme it is replaced by the Cape honey bee. This subspecies has been determined to constitute one part of the ancestry of the Africanized bees spreading through North and South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western honey bee</span> European honey bee

The western honey bee or European honey bee is the most common of the 7–12 species of honey bees worldwide. The genus name Apis is Latin for "bee", and mellifera is the Latin for "honey-bearing" or "honey carrying", referring to the species' production of honey.

<i>Apis cerana</i> Species of insect

Apis cerana, the eastern honey bee, Asiatic honey bee or Asian honey bee, is a species of honey bee native to South, Southeast and East Asia. This species is the sister species of Apis koschevnikovi and both are in the same subgenus as the western (European) honey bee, Apis mellifera. A. cerana is known to live sympatrically along with Apis koschevnikovi within the same geographic location. Apis cerana colonies are known for building nests consisting of multiple combs in cavities containing a small entrance, presumably for defense against invasion by individuals of another nest. The diet of this honey bee species consists mostly of pollen and nectar, or honey. Moreover, Apis cerana is known for its highly social behavior, reflective of its classification as a type of honey bee.

Varroa sensitive hygiene (VSH) is a behavioral trait of honey bees (Apis mellifera) in which bees detect and remove bee pupae that are infested by the parasitic mite Varroa destructor. V. destructor is considered to be the most dangerous pest problem for honey bees worldwide. VSH activity results in significant resistance to the mites.

Beekeeping is first recorded in Ireland in the seventh century. It has seen a surge in popularity in modern times, with the membership of beekeeping associations exceeding 4,500. The median average number of hives per beekeeper is three hives, while the average honey output per hive is 11.4 kg. The growth in the practice has occurred despite increased pressures on bees and beekeepers due to parasites, diseases and habitat loss.

<i>Apis mellifera anatoliaca</i> Subspecies of honey bee

Apis mellifera anatoliaca is a subspecies of Apis mellifera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mite biting bees</span>

Mite Biting Is one of the behavioral mechanisms of honey bees used to fight off the ectoparasitic mites Varroa destructor. This behavior has been studied since the late 1990s for honey bee breeding and improvement of honeybee stocks towards mite resistance. Krispn Given and Dr. Greg Hunt at Purdue University started a hierarchical selective breeding program in 1997–present for increased mite-biting and grooming behavior of European honey bee. A group of Midwest bee breeders visiting the Purdue bee lab were inspired to start the Heartland Honey Bee Breeders Cooperative as a result of their pioneering work.

Apis mellifera adansonii(Western African bee) is a subspecies of the Western honey bee with probably the largest range of Apis mellifera in Africa, belonging to the A (Africa) Lineage of honey bees. Originally identified by Michael Adansonin in his Histoire naturelle du Seneegal in 1757. Initially the name adsansonii was misapplied to A. m. scutelleta and in particular to the Africanised bees of South America.

Apis mellifera siciliana is known by the common name of the Sicilian honey bee which is endemic to the island of Sicily, Italy in the Mediterranean sea. It belongs to the A Lineage of honey bees from Africa, with close genetic relations to Apis mellifera sahariensis, Apis mellifera intermissa, and Apis mellifera ruttneri.

Apis mellifera monticola is known by the common name of the East African mountain honey bee. In 2017 its complete mitochondrial genome was sequenced, confirming that it belonged to the A Lineage of honey bees and concluding that "A phylogenetic tree showed that A. m. monticola clusters with other African subspecies".

Apis mellifera meda is known by the common names of the Median honey bee or the Iranian honey bee. Its range covers the non desert areas of most of Iran and Iraq, but also into southeastern Turkey, across northern Syria as far as the coast of the Mediterranean. Colonies have been observed in the Azarbaijan Iranian highlands at elevations up to 3,000 m (9,800 ft). Initially based on morphometric evaluation, but then later confirmed with DNA analysis, they belong to the O Lineage of Apis mellifera.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Michael S Engel (1999). "The taxonomy of recent and fossil honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae; Apis)". Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 8 (2): 180. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  2. Paolo Fontana (2018). "Appeal for biodiversity protection of native honey bee subspecies of Apis mellifera in Italy" (PDF). Bulletin of Insectology. 71 (2): 257–271. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Nizar Jamal Haddad (2016). "Evaluation of Apis mellifera syriaca Levant region honeybee conservation using comparative genome hybridization". Genetica. 144 (3): 279–287. doi:10.1007/s10709-016-9897-y. PMID   27010806. S2CID   254513212 . Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  4. M. Kence, D. Oskay, T. Giray, A. Kence. (2013). "Honey bee colonies from different races show variation in defenses against the varroa mite in a 'common garden'". Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. 149: 36–43. doi:10.1111/eea.12109. S2CID   85358239 . Retrieved 1 February 2023.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)