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.
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.
The European dark bee 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.
The Caucasian honey bee is a subspecies of the western honey bee.
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.
Apis mellifera iberiensis, or the Spanish bee, is a western honey bee subspecies native to the Iberian Peninsula. It is also found on the Balearic Islands.
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.
Apis mellifera intermissa is an African subspecies of the western honey bee.
Apis mellifera cypria(Cyprus honey bee) is a subspecies of the Western honey bee. Its habitat is the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.
Apis mellifera anatoliaca is a subspecies of Apis mellifera.
Apis mellifera artemisia is the Russian steppe honey bee, first identified in 1999 near Kyiv, Ukraine, by only one specimen, but by 2011 its taxonomic status had been called into question, although to date no DNA analysis has been conducted: At the same time the taxonomic status of the Apis mellifera ruttneri on Malta was also called into question, however in 2017 it was confirmed that Apis mellifera ruttneri was a new and separate subspecies.
Apis mellifera sossimai extending from the west of Ukraine centrally and southwards towards the Caucasus mountains. However in 2011 research from Russia conducted mtDNA analysis showing that the A. m. sossimai was not a separate subspecies, but only an ecotype of the Apis mellifera macedonica subspecies.
Apis mellifera taurica along the north central shores of the Black Sea, in the Crimea. However in 2011 research from Russia questioned the taxonomic status of A. m. taurica citing mtDNA analysis to the north and west of Crimea, which had shown that those regions did not have distinct subspecies, but that their honey bees were at the most ecotypes of previously known subspecies.
Apis mellifera pomonella, the Tien Shan honey bee, is a subspecies of Apis mellifera which is claimed to be the endemic honey bee of the Tien Shan Mountains in Central Asia. It is a relatively large bee, only slightly smaller than Apis mellifera carnica, in general very similar in appearance to Apis mellifera anatoliaca, but with comparatively short hair and short mouthparts.
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 unicolor is known by the common name of the Madagascar honey bee, sometimes also called the Malagasy honey bee,, it is endemic to the island of Madagascar.
Apis mellifera syriaca is known by the common name of the Syrian honey bee, sometimes also called the Palestine honey bee.
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 3000m. Initially based on morphometric evaluation, but then later confirmed with DNA analysis, they belong to the O Lineage of Apis mellifera.
