# Honey Bee Sub-species



## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Is this pretty accurate and what have I missed? Thank you 

Honey Bee sub-species

Bold species are available or present in the United States.

Africanized - Apis mellifera scutellata - hardiness, quick build-up, 
swarmy, abscond, build brood over stores, no cold resistance

All-American- Italian hybrid mite resistance, quick build-up, gentle, not swarmy, production, wintering, housekeeping

All-Star- Italian hybrid

Anatolian– Apis mellifera Anatolica - prolific, wintering, vitality, longevity, orientation
Aggressive in cold, enormous number of queen cells, swarming

Buckfast – gentle, mite resistance, spring build-up, not swarmy, wintering, longevity, production, housekeeping

Carnolian – Apis mellifera Carnica – good temper, calm on the combs, industry, orientation, hardiness, brood disease resistance, winter survival, thriftiness, minimal propolis, good on cold and wet days
Swarming, premature spring build-up, reluctance to enter supers, poor comb building, suspend brood rearing in pause of honey flow

Cape – Apis mellifera Capensis – workers lay by thelytoky

Caucasian – Apis mellifera Caucasica – gentle, tongue-reach, stores food close to brood, stores on minimum comb, work cool and wet 
Brace comb, propolis, susceptible to disease, late build-up, drifting, robbing, wet cappings

Cretan- Apis mellifera Adami – good production
Aggressive, clusters of queen cells

Cyprian - Apis mellifera cypria – not swarmy, best performance, best wintering, vitality,quick build-up, disease resistant, no brace comb, orientation
Limited fertility, defensive, laying workers

Egyptian – Apis mellifera Fasciata (Lamarckii) – no propolis, very prolific, calm, self-defense, low drifting
Aggressive, moderate fertility, no winter cluster, clusters of queen cells, No cold resistance

German – Apis mellifera mellifera – 3 sub-types - mellifera (brown bee) lehzeni (heathland bee) ***** (black bee) overwinter well
Slow spring build-up

Greek – Apis mellifera Cecropia – fecundity, reluctance to swarm, colony strength, good housekeeping
Excessive propolis, brace comb, watery flat cappings

Italian – Apis mellifera Ligustica – industry, gentleness, fertility, reluctance to swarm, comb building zeal, white cappings, willingness to enter supers, cleanliness, disease resistance
Excessive brood rearing, lacks vitality, drifting

Kona – Italian or Cordovan hybrid, mite resistance

Midnight - Caucasian and Carniolan hybrid

Minnesota Hygienic – disease resistant, hygienic

Russian – mite resistance, winter hardiness, less propolis, quick build-up
always raising queen cells, swarmy, small population even during flow

Saharan – Apis mellifera Sahariensis – vitality, longevity, comb-building
Low fecundity, cold susceptible

SMR – Suppression of Mite Reproduction – mite tolerant, hygeinic

Starline – Italian hybrid, vigor, production, fast build-up
Large winter population, poor overwinter

Syrian - Apis mellifera syriaca – 
Defensive

Tellian or Arab - Apis mellifera intermissa – pollen gathering, vitality
Defensive, swarmy, excessive brood rearing, heavy propolis, disease susceptibility, 

Tien Shan - Apis mellifera pomonella- Apidologie 34 (2003) 367–375 © INRA/DIB-AGIB/ EDP Sciences, 2003 DOI: 10.1051/apido:2003037

VSH – Varroa Suppression Hygeinics

Yugo Russian and Carniolan hybrid, overwinters well, not swarmy

The page is http://americasbeekeeper.org/Honey_Bee_sub-species.htm I will fix the html tags. Thank you


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

Not Carnolian, Carniolan.

Nice list. So are you saying that all of these are available in the USA, now? Or that all of those were brought here at one time or another?

You say that "Bold species are available or present in the USA.", but nothing in your post is bold.

You are missing, "Primorski Russian", and some of the other varieties/strains available from Russell Apiaries.


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## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Thank you for the spell check and Russell recommendation. I considered all the hybrids and brand naming. I almost deleted Kona and may still. When there is enough history from several sources to determine/verify characteristics I will add them to the list. I also have personal opinions on some I did not include. I have never worked a Russian I liked or did not have to "suit up" for, or Aureal that were not hygeinic, but I did not include personal observations. If I follow Karl Kehrle's example, it is not a variety until it has been around for several generations.


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## heaflaw (Feb 26, 2007)

You guys know a lot more than I claim to, but a hybrid should not be considered a seperate subspecies because they lose their specific traits after several generations. They only exist temporarily. If the breeders that cross lines to make the hybrids stopped, they would cease to exist in a few years. Am I correct or not?


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## heaflaw (Feb 26, 2007)

This is a great list by the way.


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## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Every variety is a hybrid at some time. Only geographic boundaries separate current lines. Buckfast is a hybrid of A.m. ligurica (North Italian), A.m. mellifera (English), A.m. mellifera (French), A.m. anatolica (Turkish) and A.m. cecropia (Greek) that has been stable for many years.


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## heaflaw (Feb 26, 2007)

OK. I thought Starline & Midnights were not stable and had about died out.


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## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Starline and Midnight have an inbred component. Inbred varieties do not survive long due to genetic depression. Starline and Midnight have not been available for years. I used them and they were nice to work and good producers.


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## Fusion_power (Jan 14, 2005)

While the list is reasonable, it is not very useful. You haven't separated geographic species from breeding lines or hybrids.

If you put
Apis Mellifera Carnica
Apis Mellifera Mellifera
Apis Mellifera Ligustica
Apis Mellifera Scutellata


You would have a grouping of geographic races.

You might also look for a listing of species of honeybees. For example, Apis Dorsata, Apis Florea, etc.

DarJones


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