Just reading about this last night. Apis m. m. has been almost replaced in Europe, too.

> The natural distribution of honeybee subspecies in Europe has been significantly affected by human activities during the last century. Non-native subspecies of honeybees have been introduced and propagated, so that native black honeybee (Apis mellifera mellifera) populations lost their identity by gene-flow or went extinct.

> Since the beginning of the 20th century, commercial bee breeding has been dominated by introduced ‘superior’ honeybees, especially A. m. ligustica from Italy and A. m. carnica from former Yugoslavia, into northwest Europe. As a consequence of the direct replacement and the gene flow between native and commercially honeybee populations over longer distances, native honeybees are considered to be extinct in many parts of Europe.

> In Germany, for example, massive introductions have led to the almost complete replacement of A. m. mellifera by A. m. carnica. In the Scandinavian countries and on the British Isles, most professional and hobby beekeepers today keep A. m. ligustica , A. m. carnica or synthetic strains such as the buckfast bee. The natural range of A. m. mellifera is thus likely to have become significantly reduced in recent years.

Varying degrees of Apis mellifera ligustica introgression in protected populations of the black honeybee, Apis mellifera mellifera, in northwest Europe
ANNETTE B. JENSEN, et al  IN: Molecular Ecology (2005) 14, 93– 106

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