Conservation of native European

honey bees

Adam Tofilski

Agricultural University of Krakow, Poland

Honey bee subspecies in Europe

image by Karl Udo Gerth

Apis mellif

eramellif

era

from Ruttner 1988

Identification of honey bee subspecies

• Identification based on

DNA is expensive

• Morphological

differences between subspecies are small

• Identification requires

multiple measurements

• The measurements are

time consuming

Computer software can be used for automatic wing measurements

Tofilski A. (2008) Apidologie

Tofilski A. (2007) CRC Press

Tofilski A. (2004) Journal of Insect Science

Honey bee queen breeding in Poland

Gerula, Tofilski et al. (2009) Journal of Apicultural Science

• The automatic wing

measurements are

used by Polish

queen breeders

• The new method is

faster and more

precise

Identification of A. m. mellifera based on wing venation and DNA gives similar results

0.00.20.40.60.81.00

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

r = 0.86; p < 0.0001

Oleksa & Tofilski unpublished

carnica mellifera

nuclear DNA

win

g v

en

atio

ncarn

ica

melli

fera

Conservation of A. m. mellifera in Poland

Most honey bees in northern Poland are native A. m. mellifera

A. m. mellifera

hybrids

A. m. carnica

Oleksa & Tofilski unpublished

Spatial distribution of subspecies

Further north there is more

A. m. mellifera

(marked red) than A. m. carnica

(marked blue)

Oleksa & Tofilski

unpublished

-3 -2.7 -2.4 -2.1 -1.8 -1.5 -1.2 -0.9 -0.6 -0.3 0

-0.96

-0.84

-0.72

-0.6

-0.48

-0.36

-0.24

-0.12

0

ojc

ow

ie

A. m. mellifera queens prefer to mate withA. m. mellifera drones

dro

ne

scarn

ica

melli

fera

carnica mellifera

queens Oleksa & Tofilski unpublished

Feral (unmanaged) colonies were found in avenues of trees

• 45 nests

• 0.3% of all trees

• 1.3% of hollow trees

• density of feral nests

0.10 nests/km2

Oleksa & Tofilski (2012) Journal of Insect

Conservation

Rural avenues should be protected

• habitat for bees and

other organisms

• provide pollinators for surrounding crops

• landscape protection

before

after

Conclusions

• Identification of honey bee subspecies

is essential for their conservation

• Measurements of wing venation is fast

accurate identification method

• Feral colonies of native A. m. mellifera

are still present in Europe

• Avenues of trees should be protected

as a potential nesting site for bees

Acknowledgements

• Andrzej Oleksa, Kazimierz

Wielki University in Bydgoszcz

• Dariusz Gerula, Research

Institute of Horticulture

Apicultural Division in Pulawy