Types of bees

[beeser]

what kind of bees are prevalent in your country?
apis mellifica .....?

are there more than one type?
what about africanized bees?

[gavin]

Too many questions, beeser!

The majority of the bees are hybrid. Apis mellifera mellifera is probably the most dominant in the mix, and it still exists in pure forms in some places. Many Carniolan have been imported in the last few years. There are ligustica, Buckfast, caucasica and others present too.

No Africanised bees (although Buckfast is reputed to have African genes .. )

[prakel]

The majority of the bees are hybrid.

That's mine. Bright orange banding is quite dominant through the summer and autumn months although interestingly I've noticed that by the start of March some hives have barely an orange band left in sight*. A phenomena which I can't say I've seen recorded elsewhere although I'm sure that someone will have a link.

EDIT: and no, for clarity I don't mean that the entire colonies have died out through the winter!

[gavin]

Yes, noticed that darker hue in spring too. Even a colony of Buckfast (OK, prob Buckfast hybid) a few years ago was darker coming out of winter.

Just for clarification, my comments on the racial mix were for Scotland.

[prakel]

Something which might be well worth further observation. A nice little project. Random samples of bees in Autumn compared to similar samples at the end of winter. No obvious practical benefit I admit, but could be interesting to watch the results over a few years. Do colonies which demonstrate this kind of colour shift through the winter show a quicker reversion to a darker type (amm/carnica/whatever) dominance than those that maintain a broad range of coloured off-spring through out the entire year?

[prakel]

Returning to an old thread to tie in the following cut from Br.Adam. Not strictly relevant, I suppose, but it does touch on an example of a seasonal colour shift.

In Search of the Best Strains of Bee. Second Journey Bee World, 35(10 & 12), 1954.

In my first report (Bee World 32 : 49 & 57, 1951) I gave a fairly comprehensive outline of the general characteristics of the Carnica bee. That description also holds good for the strains found in Carniola itself. There are undoubtedly some variations; indeed the wide variation between one strain and another is one of the most marked features of the race. We have had some strains which could hardly have been surpassed for uniformity in external characteristics, but which proved valueless in practice. Too much stress is often placed on uniformity, particularly in the Carniolan. There is a factor for yellow in its genetic make-up, which often manifests itself as a seasonal variation. The breeder of one of the best strains assured me that his bees will not infrequently show some yellow coloration on the first dorsal segments in the early part of the summer, but that these markings will completely vanish in subsequent generations raised at a lower temperature in the autumn.