Increased levels of introgression evident in Irish honey bees

Abstract

Ireland is home to a significant population of the black bee, Apis mellifera mellifera, however, in recent years the numbers of imported queens have increased 10 fold and beekeepers are observing more bees that are not totally black. Here we confirm an increase in the proportion of introgressed honey bees in Ireland via multiple approaches. The use of colour and wing morphometrics is becoming less reliable in Ireland to identify native honey bees due to the increased presence of various hybrid phenotypes and genotypes.

Keywords:

• Apis mellifera mellifera
• free-living
• Ireland
• Introgression
• imports
• morphometrics
• molecular
• colour

Acknowledgements

We particularly thank the recorders of the free-living honey bee colonies and the National Biodiversity Data Centre for their assistance. Funding was gratefully received from the Eva Crane Trust [grant number ECTA20160303] and The Native Irish Honey Bee Society. Thanks also to Eoin MacLoughlin for help in sampling colonies.

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Additional information

Funding

Eva Crane Trust [grant number ECTA20160303] and The Native Irish Honey Bee Society.