The Macedonian bee (''Apis mellifera macedonica'' or ''Apis mellifera rodopica'') is a subspecies of the

Western honey bee The western honey bee or European honey bee (''Apis mellifera'') is the most common of the 7–12 species of honey bees worldwide. The genus name ''Apis'' is Latin for "bee", and ''mellifera'' is the Latin for "honey-bearing" or "honey carrying" ...

. It is found mainly in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

Northern Greece Northern Greece ( el, Βόρεια Ελλάδα, Voreia Ellada) is used to refer to the northern parts of Greece, and can have various definitions. Administrative regions of Greece Administrative term The term "Northern Greece" is widely used ...

and other places in the Balkans as well. Originally this subspecies was described based on morphological characteristics by

Friedrich Ruttner Friedrich Ruttner (15 May 1914 – 3 February 1998) was an Austrian SA-member, Nazi, SS-physician, neurologist, bee expert and zoologist. Biography Ruttner was born in Eger, Bohemia as the son of a Limnologist, Franz Ruttner. He studied medicin ...

, as were the ''adami'', ''cecropia'' and ''cypria'' subspecies. The bee populations of

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

, Macedonia,

Central Greece Continental Greece ( el, Στερεά Ελλάδα, Stereá Elláda; formerly , ''Chérsos Ellás''), colloquially known as Roúmeli (Ρούμελη), is a traditional geographic region of Greece. In English, the area is usually called Central ...

and the Peloponnese are completely distinguishable from those on the island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

. Studies of bee populations in 2005 from various areas of Greece (

Ikaria Icaria, also spelled Ikaria ( el, Ικαρία), is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, 10 nautical miles (19 km) southwest of Samos. According to tradition, it derives its name from Icarus, the son of Daedalus in Greek mythology, who was be ...

, Kasos,

Kythira Kythira (, ; el, Κύθηρα, , also transliterated as Cythera, Kythera and Kithira) is an island in Greece lying opposite the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese peninsula. It is traditionally listed as one of the seven main Ionian Islands ...

Phthiotis Phthiotis ( el, Φθιώτιδα, ''Fthiótida'', ; ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Φθιῶτις) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. The capital is the city of Lamia. It is borde ...

, Macedonia) and

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

analyzing mitochondrial DNA segments and finding differences in enzymatic restrictions, resulting in ''Apis mellifera adami'', ''Apis mellifera cecropia'' and ''Apis mellifera cypria'' having a haplotype which differs from the Macedonian ''Apis mellifera'' haplotype, this subspecies being the most distant of all.

Non-recognition of the Ruttner hypothesis

Ruttner distinguished ''A. m. macedonica'' from ''A. m. carnica'' in 1988, assigning a geographical distribution to the subspecies in northern Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and (perhaps) part of the former USSR. Other naturalists recognize Ruttner's subspecies as ''A. m. rodopica'' and ''A. m. carpatica''.

References

Bibliography

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External links

ANERCEA, apicultural society website (in French)
mellifera macedonica Western honey bee breeds Hymenoptera of Europe Insects described in 1988 {{Apidae-stub