> A friend of mine is putting a lecture together on the outward
> morphometric differences of various strains/races of bees. (I have
> a personal interest in this direction as well).I am trying to
> source a high definition picture, fairly large size (dorsal view if
> possible) of a Primorski Bee. Can any BEE-L people help or point
> me in the right direction?

The bee we call "primorsk " is something the Russians call "Far East
bee". It is a natural hybrid from the cross-breed by the bees that
were imported to the area.

Most of the imported  bees were of the Ukrainian bee (Apis millefera
acervorum). Smaller amount was the Central Russian bee (A. m.
mellifera) and even smaller amount was Caucasian ( both grey and
yellow A. m. caucausica and A. m. remipes). Marginally there was
also an import of A. m. ligustica (even from Australia).

The Russians call them "primitive bees". They are a very
heterogeneous. It is not a unified and stabilised bee.  They look like
the Central Russian bee but they often have a yellow ribbon on two,
three first tergits. They cap the honey cells both white (dry) and
dark  (wet).

The Russians write that these bees have a large potential and should
be used for selecting productive bees of high quality. There are
thoughts to give these bees an official status but at the moment they
are described as "Primitive bees".

Olda Vancata

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