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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Tue, 30 Dec 2014 21:21:09 -0500
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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
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Peter Loring Borst <[log in to unmask]>
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> I don't know what four lineages are in the All-American, but as best I have found in reading, Benton was never able to successfully bring the Apis dorsata to the US.   It seems, though that many species (subspecies?) of honeybees were imported to the US in the late 19th and early 20th century.  It seems that these genetics are still working their way around in the current domestic apis melifera.  

The four lineages are called M, C, O, and A. (some also include a Y lineage)

M is typified by the native bees of England, France and Spain. C includes Italian bees and Carniolans. O includes bees from Turkey and the Caucasus. A stands for African. These bees have significant  differences which can be measured and also verified by sequencing the mtDNA. The bees of the USA have these lineages in varying degrees. 

None of this includes other species of honey bee. No Asian bees have been successfully introduced into the Americas. I seriously doubt whether Benton was confused enough to think that dorsata could breed with mellifera. These are separate species, not subspecies. You can't cross them any more than you can cross a house cat with an ocelot. 

* * *

Nine species of honeybees, including the giant honeybees or rock bees (Apis dorsata
and Apis laboriosa), the little honeybee (Apis florea), the small dark honeybees
(Apis andreniformis), the Asian honeybee (Apis cerana) and the European honeybee
(Apis mellifera), are found in Asia. Among these, A. dorsata, A. laboriosa, A. florea
and A. andreniformis cannot be kept in hives. — Uma Partap, in Honeybees of Asia

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