Honey bee race

Within biological taxonomy, a honey bee race would be an informal rank in the taxonomic hierarchy, below the level of subspecies. It has been used as a higher rank than strain, with several strains making up one race.[1][2] Therefore, a strain (within the honey bee context) is a lower-level taxonomic rank used at the intraspecific level within a race of a subspecies. Strains are often seen as inherently artificial concepts, more usually within biology as characterized by a specific intent for genetic isolation,[3] however, within beekeeping circles, strain is more likely to be used to describe very minor differences throughout the same subspecies, such as the color ranges of A. m. carnica from brown to grey.[4] Within A. m. ligustica there are two races, the darker leather brown northern Italian bee from the Ligurian Alps region which was discovered to be resistant to acarine in the 1900s, while the other Italian bee race, from regions near Bologna and further south, was highly susceptible to acarine and within this race there are two color strains, the traditional Italian yellow and a rarer all-golden color.[5][6]

  1. ^ Gotoh, T.; Bruin, J.; Sabelis, M. W.; Menken, S. B. J. (1993). "Host race formation in Tetranychus urticae: Genetic differentiation, host plant preference, and mate choice in a tomato and a cucumber strain". Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata (Submitted manuscript). 68 (2): 171–178. doi:10.1111/j.1570-7458.1993.tb01700.x. S2CID 86180826.
  2. ^ Ritchie, D. F.; Dittapongpitch, V. (1991), "Copper- and Streptomycin-resistant Strains and Host Differentiated Races of Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria in North Carolina" (PDF), Plant Disease, 75 (7): 733–736, doi:10.1094/pd-75-0733
  3. ^ DIJKSHOORN, L.; URSING, B.M.; URSING, J.B. (2000). "Strain, clone and species: comments on three basic concepts of bacteriology". Journal of Medical Microbiology. 49 (5): 397–401. doi:10.1099/0022-1317-49-5-397. PMID 10798550.
  4. ^ Mark L. Winston (1991). The Biology of the Honey Bee. Harvard University Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-674-07409-5.
  5. ^ Brother, Adam (1987). Breeding the Honeybee (Paperback ed.). Peacock Press. pp. 96–98. ISBN 9780907908326.
  6. ^ Api Expert (2014-06-14). "The Italian Honey Bee. Characteristics and recommendations". apiexpert.eu. Retrieved 6 November 2018.