Nomenclature

David E. MacFawn Master Craftsman Beekeeper SCBA Aiken Journeyman Class

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Carl Linnaeus

• Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778)

• “The Father of Taxonomy”

• Linnaeus desired to name all insects

• Trained as MD; a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist.

• Developed the early stages of ranking and classifying organisms as used today

Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778)

Linnaeus’s Scientific Thought

• Developed the “binomial nomenclature”

• Binomial = two names (Apis mellifera)

• Nomen (name) clature (what is its name)

Classification

• This is how Linnaeus’ method has evolved. • Kingdom = Animalia (animals) • Phylum = Arthropoda (Arthropods) (jointed foot) • Class = Insecta (insects) • Order = Hymenoptera (membranous wing) • Family = Apidae (long-tongued bees) • Genus = Apis • Species: mellifera (honey-bearing) Source: “Wepidia”

Honey Bee Species of Interest

• There are four species (lots more available) of honey bees

that we are interested in. {note Apis with caps, mellifera small letter.}

• Apis (Genus) mellifera (Species); (western honey bee) • Apis florea; the small bee ; southern and southeastern Asia • Apis cerana, the eastern bee ; southern and southeastern

Asia, including China, Pakistan, India, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands.

• Apis dorsata, the giant honey bee; South and Southeast Asia

Hive and the honeybee

Honey Bee Species & Races

• Species: Western Honey Bee – Apis mellifera

• Races:

• Apis mellifera mellifera – German

• Apis mellifera ligustica – Italian

• Apis mellifera carnica – Carniolan

• Apis mellifera caucasica - Caucasian

• Apis mellifera scutella - African

Location of Honey bees

European Races

Apis mellifera mellifera-”German”

(Genus) (Species) (Race)

• Originates in Britain, Ireland, Northern and Central Europe. “German” bee

• Jet Black to Dark brown.

• This race of bees is known to be very aggressive and therefore the mid to late 1800’s began to be phased out.

Mellifera (German)

Limitations

• Susceptible to most brood diseases

• Quite defensive

• Short tongue

Merits

• First stock to be imported to America

• Beautiful white cappings on honey comb

• Good overwintering ability

Apis mellifera ligustica (Italians)

• Homeland: Italy and the Mediterranean

• This is the Western Honeybee that has replaced German bee in the Americas starting in the 1850’s.

• This race is known to be gentle, with yellow markings

• Prolific layers and colony build up quickly, good producers

• BUT: Maintain large populations year round, Rob, Drift between hives, eat up stores rapidly in winter months.

Itialians (Ligustica)

Merits

• Less defensive and prone to disease than German stock

• Lighter in color

• Strong brood rearing

• Good housekeepers

• Good honey production

Limitations

• Rear lots of brood outside of honey flows, consuming excess food

• Bad robbing

Apis mellifera carnica (Carniolan bee)

• A subspecies {race} originating in the Balkan peninsular

(Austria, Hungry, Bulgaria to Bosnia and Serbia) • Introduced into US during the last part of the 19th

century • Smaller in size, lots of hair • Overwinters with smaller numbers • Uses less store • Builds up rapidly in spring, very gentle • Quick to swarm (because of quick build up) • Swarming makes them more difficult to manage.

Carniolan (Carnica)

Merits

• Exceptionally docile

• Explosive early spring buildup

• Decrease brood rearing in dearths

Limitations

• Excess propensity to swarm

• Not a very good comb builder

Apis mellifera caucasian

• Originates in the Caucasus region; the mountain range diving south eastern Europe from Asia. Imported during the last part of the 19th century.

• Very gentle, grey in color because of the copious hair

• Good producer

• BUT slow to build up in the spring and do not fair well in cool damp climates.

Caucasian (Caucasia)

Merits

• Longest tongue of any other race

• Extremely gentle

Limitations

• Very low spring buildup

• Susceptible to EFB and nosema

• Copious amounts of propolis

Other Stocks

Minnesota Hygienic VSH / SMR

Minnesota Hygienic

• Reduced – Clinical symptoms of American foulbrood or chalkbrood – have significantly fewer Varroa mites compared to

unselected colonies

• good honey producer, and is gentle and easy to manage.

• certify a trait, hygienic behavior. Not concerned with the type or pedigree of bees selected for hygienic behavior; they can be Italian, Russian, Carniolan or mutts! Interested in selecting diverse stocks of bees for hygienic behavior first, and in time, other traits that will help the bees resist diseases and mites

VSH / SMR

• This hybrid has the ability to reduce the number

of viable Varroa Mites in the hive. • There is no bee that is 100% immune to the

Varroa Mite. • Suppressed Mite Reproduction (SMR) is a trait of

honey bees that provides resistance to Varroa destructor. The mechanism of resistance in SMR bees is the removal of infested pupae from capped brood, so a better name is VSH bees (acronym for Varroa Sensitive Hygiene)

Russian Bees

• originate in the Primorsky Krai region of Russia – imported into the United States in 1997

• Varroa mite came to the United States in 1987.

• Russian Carniolan strain improves the survival from Varroa.

• When in the presence of other strains this trait diminishes.

A comparison of various colony characteristics of Italian and Russian honey bees

• Characteristic Italians Russians • Varroa mites More susceptible More resistant • Tracheal mites More susceptible Highly resistant • Brood rearing: Continuous throughout the summer Usually only during times of pollen availability • Robbing High Low • Queen cells: Only during swarming or queen replacement Present most of the time • Pollination skills Small difference from Russian bees Small difference from

Italian bees • Temperament Gentle, less defensive; not likely to sting Gentle, less

defensive; not likely to sting • Color Light Dark

Requeening Italian colonies with Russian queens

• The requeening procedure has frustrated many beekeepers because standard introduction techniques often are not successful when requeening Italian colonies with Russian queens, as the colonies may reject the new queens.

• Italian bee colonies need more time and separation to become acclimated to Russian queens.

• Step 1: Split the colony in half, with the two halves separated by a double screen.

• Step 2: Place the old queen in the bottom half and a caged Russian queen in the upper half.

• Step 3: Release the Russian queen from her cage after 7 to 10 days. • Step 4: Once the Russian queen has been accepted and has laid

eggs for one month, kill the old queen, and reunite the two halves (remove the screens)

• Source NC State Extension

Comparison of bees and their traits *AFB = American foulbrood **EFB = European foulbrood published by the NC Extension Service

Italian German Carniolan Buckfast Caucasian Russian

Color Light Dark Black Medium Dark Gray

Disease resistance Varroa Tracheal AFB* EFB** other

- - 0 0 0

- - - 0 0

- - + 0 +

- + 0 0 +

- 0 0 0 -

+ + 0 0 0

Gentleness Mod Low High Low-mod High Low-mod

Spring buildup Good Low Very good Low Very low Ok

Over-wintering ability

Good Very good Good Good Ok Very good

Excess swarming Ok Ok High Low Low Ok

Honey processing Very good

Ok Good Good Low ok

Propolis Low Ok Low Low High ok

Other traits Heavy robbing

Short tongue, nice white cappings

Low robbing, good comb builders

Supersedure queens produce defensive colonies

Long tongue Brood rearing affected by flow, queen cells always present

Some References

• History of Beekeeping in the United States – By EVERETT OERTEL

Retired, formerly apiculturist, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

• BEEKEEPING IN THE UNITED STATES AGRICULTURE HANDBOOK NUMBER 335 Revised October 1980 Pages 2 – 9

• NC Extension Service