Honey bee breeds

Honey bees are divided into several breeds:

Central Russian - Apis mellifera mellifera L.,

Steppe Ukrainian - Apis mellifera sossimai Engel.,

Carniola (carnica) - Apis mellifera carnica Pollm.,

Italian - Apis mellifera ligustica,

Grey Mountain Caucasian - Apis mellifera caucasica Gorb.,

Carpathian - Apis mellifera carpathica,

Geographic distribution of the subspecies of the honey bee

European subspecies:

Apis mellifera carnica Pollmann, 1879 - Carniola honeybee. In the region of Carniola (Slovenia), the southern part of the Austrian Alps and the northern Balkans.

Apis mellifera caucasica Pollmann, 1889 - gray mountain, or Caucasian, honey bee. Caucasus mountains.

Apis mellifera cecropia Kiesenwetter, 1860 - Southern Greece

Apis mellifera cypria Pollmann, 1879

Apis mellifera iberiensis (syn.: Apis mellifera iberica) Engel, 1999 - Pyrenean honey bees. It occurs in the Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal)

Apis mellifera ligustica Spinola, 1806 - Italian honey bee. It is more common in North and South America and southern Europe.

Apis mellifera mellifera Linnaeus, 1758

Apis mellifera remipes Gerstäcker, 1862

Apis mellifera ruttneri Grech & Meixner in 1997

Apis mellifera sicula Montagano, 1911

African subspecies:

Apis mellifera adansonii Latreille, 1804

Apis mellifera capensis Eschscholtz, 1822

Apis mellifera intermissa von Buttel-Reepen, 1906; Maa, 1953

Apis mellifera jemenitica Ruttner, 1976

Apis mellifera lamarckii Cockerell, 1906

Apis mellifera litorea Smith, 1961

Apis mellifera major Ruttner, 1978

Apis mellifera monticola Smith, 1961

Apis mellifera nubica

Apis mellifera sahariensis Baldensperger, 1932

Apis mellifera scutellata Lepeletier, 1836

Apis mellifera unicolor Latreille, 1804

Subspecies of the Middle East and Asia:

Apis mellifera adamii Ruttner, 1977

Apis mellifera anatolica Maa, 1953

Apis mellifera armeniaca

Apis mellifera macedonica Ruttner, 1988

Apis mellifera meda Skorikov, 1829

Apis mellifera pomonella Sheppard & Meixner, 2003

Apis mellifera syriaca Skorikov, 1829

Breeds differ in appearance (color and size), behavior (aggressiveness, tendency to steal honey from other colonies), resistance to temperature changes.

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