Research Information System
XXXXIII Apimondia International Apicultural Congress, Kyyiv, Ukraine, 29 September - 03 October 2013
15 years of change in population structure
of honey bees (Apis mellifera) in
Turkey: a comparison of migratory vs. stationary apiaries and isolated vs. not
isolated regions
Recent reports from Spain, Italy and Greece
point to an intense admixture of honey bee populations in those countries signified
with a loss of population structure. This is mostly attributed to migratory
beekeeping practices and replacement of queens or colonies with commercial ones
that are usually non-native or hybrids of different subspecies. These two
practices are also heavily carried out in Turkey where almost three-quarters of
the 6 million colonies are transferred seasonally from one region to other.
Studies of population structure based on
microsatellite markers –as well as RAPD markers, allozymes and geometric
morphometry- were carried out during the last fifteen years in our laboratory.
Five different subspecies of Apis
mellifera (A. m. meda, A. m. syriaca, A. m. caucasica, A. m. anatoliaca
and A. m. macedonica) are considered to be native to Anatolia and Thrace.
We carried out an analysis of population structure of honeybees in Turkey
sampled from six different regions in the last two years. 29 microsatellite
markers were used in 4 multiplex reactions. The results show that population
structure is conserved in general although there are signs of gene flow.
We have further tested the effect of migratory
beekeeping based on comparison of assignment probabilities to their geographic
populations of individuals from migratory and stationary colonies. Also a
comparison is made between regions that are open to migratory beekeeping and
not -isolated regions where migratory beekeeping is prohibited or not taking
place or very low.