Abstract
Declining bee populations and decreasing marketability of apiaries pose the necessity for a comprehensive monitoring of the morphological characteristics of honeybees. The monitoring was performed in an introgressive aspect for the first time in the Volga region (Samara region) to preserve the local population of the Middle Russian race (Apis mellifera mellifera L.). Moreover, the race of queen bees was identified through the assessment of drones. Based on the race identification, small population structures of the native forest bee were revealed, which is a prerequisite for restoration of its genetic resources with the corresponding restriction of the import of bees from the southern regions where other taxonomic groups are bred.
Highlights
The Volga region is a historical habitat of the Middle Russian or dark-colored European forest bee (Apis mellifera mellifera L.)
Widespread honeybee colony losses can be observed in the region, which lead to a decrease in the production of marketable honey [1, p. 88; 2, p. 53; 3, p. 183]
The data presented show high heterogeneity of body color in Middle Russian bees inhabiting Samara region, which is an indicator of transformation of their aboriginal structure
Summary
The Volga region is a historical habitat of the Middle Russian or dark-colored European forest bee (Apis mellifera mellifera L.). These negative changes are due to the anthropogenic impact on the ecosystem, which is manifested in both the technogenic contamination of the biosphere components and a direct change in the genotype of bees through a large-scale unsystematic hybridization with "southern" races that results in crossbreeding of the Middle Russian race followed by decreased adaptive abilities of hybrids. Bees preservation, in the evolution of which natural selection played a crucial role, is important for maintaining the required level of ecosystem biodiversity [4, p. It can be noted that irreplaceability of the hereditary basis of natural races formed during a long evolution initiated work on the restoration of native bees. The first stage of this process was race identification of bee colonies by assessing morphotypes and morphometric characteristics of bees
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