| Caucasian honey bee | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Apidae |
| Genus: | Apis |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | A. m. caucasia |
| Trinomial name | |
| Apis mellifera caucasia Pollmann, 1889 [1] | |
| Synonyms [2] | |
| |
The Caucasian honey bee (Apis mellifera caucasia [3] ) is a subspecies of the western honey bee.
The Caucasian honey bee originates from the high valleys of the Central Caucasus. Georgia is the “central homeland” for the subspecies, although the bees also can be found in eastern Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan. [4]
In Turkey, beekeepers purposefully bring hives of Apis mellifera caucasia to areas of dense Rhododendron ponticum blooms to purposefully sequester grayanotoxin laden honey called "mad honey." This coveted novelty honey is referred to as "deli bal" and is neurotoxic. [6] These bees are also less susceptible than A. m. mellifera to acute exposure to Imidacloprid, a neurotoxic pesticide. [7]
The Caucasian (Georgian) honeybee has a long history of importance to beekeeping worldwide. The bees were first introduced in the United States in the 19th century. The Caucasian honey bee was a subspecies that came to have enduring interest to U.S. beekeepers. Frank Benton (1852–1919) visited Georgia in 1905 and supported the import of honeybees to the United States. [8]
The Russian revolution and consequent annexation of Georgia by the Red Army in 1921 halted the export of Caucasian honey bees. Subspecies were studied and cultivated primarily by Soviet entomologists. Soviet officials were concerned about preserving the purity of the Caucasian subspecies and outlawed any export without special permission. [9]
In 1932 professor E. F. Phillips was invited to the Soviet Union, Republic of Georgia and spent a month visiting various beekeeping and bee research establishments. E. F. Phillips paid special attention to the unique characteristics of the Apis Mellifera Caucasia (Caucasian honey bee) species - great tongue (proboscis) length and docility and was impressed with the beekeeping potential in Georgia. [10]
International exports were continued from 1969. According to a UK newspaper "GOLDEN BEE the grey mountain bee of the Soviet Union has been judged the best in the world and awarded a gold medal. The grey Caucasian bee is distinguished for its industry and it collects honey, even when it is raining. Many foreign beemasters have requested for the Golden bee and as many as 200,000 have been sent to Europe, Asia and America this year." ( Sunday Mirror June 1, 1969) [11]
The Caucasian honey bee received three gold medals at the international events – at the International Exhibition of Gardening in Erfurt (Germany) in 1961; at the 20th APIMONDIA International Congress in Bucharest (Romania) in 1965; and at the 23rd APIMONDIA International Congress in Moscow in 1971. [12] [13]
The Hive and the Honeybee Chapter 11 "Races of bees" by Prof. Friedrich Ruttner, published by Dadant, 1975
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.
The Africanized bee, also known as the Africanized honey bee 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.
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Lamarck's honey bee or the Egyptian honey bee, Apis mellifera lamarckii, is a subspecies of honey bee occurring in a narrow range along the Egyptian Nile Valley of Egypt and Sudan, named after Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and is considered the first honey bee domesticated, before 2600BC.
Apis laboriosa or Himalayan giant honey bee, is the world's largest honey bee; single adults can measure up to 3.0 cm (1.2 in) in length. Before 1980, Apis laboriosa was considered to be a subspecies of the widespread Apis dorsata, the giant honey bee, but in 1980 and for almost 20 years thereafter it was elevated to the rank of a separate species. It was classified once again as a subspecies of Apis dorsata by Michael S. Engel in 1999, but was confirmed as a full species in 2020 on the basis of co-occurrence with Apis dorsata at many sites with no sign of interbreeding. It is highly adapted to its highland habitat in behavior.
A bee smoker is a device used in beekeeping to calm honey bees. It is designed to generate smoke from the smoldering of various fuels, hence the name. It is commonly designed as a stainless steel cylinder with a lid that narrows to a small gap. The base of the cylinder has another small opening that is adjacent to a bellow nozzle. Pumping of the bellows forces air through the bottom opening. The cylinder may also have a wire frame around to protect hands from burning. Some smokers have a hook on the side allowing the user to hang the device on the side of a beehive for easy access during an inspection or attach it to an ALICE belt when not in use.
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.
Everett Franklin Phillips (1878-1951) was an American apiculturist, scholar, and innovator in the beekeeping field.
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.
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.
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Beekeeping in the United Kingdom is the maintenance of bee colonies by humans within the United Kingdom. It is a significant commercial activity that provides those involved with honey, beeswax, royal jelly, queen bees, propolis, flower pollen and bee pollen. Honeybees also provide pollination services to orchards and a variety of seed crops.
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 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 syriaca is known by the common name of the Syrian honey bee, sometimes also called the Palestine honey bee.