> They regard themselves, the humans that is, as being the custodians of the only pure Ligurians in the world now.  

Well, they apparently aren't:

> the popular assertion [is] that KI honeybee populations represent the last ‘pure’ genetic population of A. mellifera ligustica. However, historical accounts of bee introductions to KI show that A. mellifera mellifera-like bees were present on KI prior to the introduction of A. mellifera ligustica, and that multiple A. mellifera ligustica introductions to KI occurred using bees of mixed heritage. 

> Indeed, DNA sequence analyses of KI honeybees clearly indicate that while there is limited genetic diversity (supporting the assertions of limited introductions and recent geographic/genetic isolation), they are in fact hybrids and share more similarity with the A. mellifera mellifera subspecies. Therefore, the relevant state legislation should be updated to remove any mention of Ligurian or other honeybee strains. 

> data suggest that KI bees are ligustica/mellifera hybrids and that the DNA regions tested are statistically significantly closer to the mellifera subspecies. Despite this clear (and now long-standing) evidence of hybridisation of KI bees (Oldroyd et al. 1992; Koulianos & Crozier 1996, 1997), claims about the ‘pure Ligurian bees’ on KI persist in legislation and continue to be made in popular circles to this day based on false information (Franck et al. 2000a).

Glatz, R. (2015) Curious case of the Kangaroo Island honeybee Apis mellifera sanctuary. Austral Entomology.

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html