Honey bee race

Honey bee race is a classifications of honey bees, in particular European dark bees (Apis mellifera mellifera) into various named instances of an informal taxonomic rank of race—below that of subspecies—on the basis of shared genetic traits.

The race of honey bees is classified into various named instances of an informal taxonomic rank of race—below that of subspecies—on the basis of shared genetic traits. Honey bees are divided into several species. In Europe, the Americas, and Australia, the term "honey bee" means a bee of the species A. mellifera. They all spring from bees that originated in Europe and Africa. In other parts of the world, there are several other recognized honey bee species, most notably A. cerana, A. dorsata, and A. florea. The first two of these species have subspecies. The classification has been more defined for the European dark bees (Apis mellifera mellifera).

Differences in the colors of bees may be more pronounced in queens and drones; workers are much less easily differentiated by color. Drones are produced from the unfertilized eggs of queens and therefore their genetic characteristics depend entirely on those of the queen, whereas worker bees are produced from fertilized eggs, which means that each worker bee will share genetic characteristics. To make things even more complicated, a queen will normally mate several times before settling down to a life of egg laying, and the spermatozoa from her multiple matings are retained alive within her body. That means that workers may only be half-sisters, and their colors and other characteristics may differ.

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