Investigation of free-living honey bee colonies in Ireland

Abstract

Apis mellifera mellifera (Linnaeus), the Western European honey bee, is considered extinct in the wild over most of its range due largely to hybridisation and replacement by other subspecies, parasitism by Varroa destructor, habitat loss, and effects from agricultural pesticides. The purity of the subspecies within the managed cohort is also at risk over much of its range. Here, we investigated if honey bee colonies inhabited locations outside of the apiaries. In those we located, we explored how long the colony persisted and we investigated the genotypes of the bees using multiple markers. We show here that unmanaged free-living honey bee colonies are present and widespread in Ireland, inhabiting a mixture of nesting habitats with some colonies persisting naturally and unaided over multiple years. Molecular data including mitochondrial, microsatellite, and SNPs evidence indicate that the free-living population sampled is largely comprised of pure A. m. mellifera. Finally, we discuss the implications of conserving free-living A. m. mellifera in Ireland and its possible role in improving the fitness of the managed population both in Ireland and the rest of its European range.

Population Structure and Diversity in European Honey Bees (Apis mellifera L.)—An Empirical Comparison of Pool and Individual Whole-Genome Sequencing

“…Moreover, within the M lineage the highest genetic diversity was identified in the ibe_eus_esp population, in concordance with the Iberian Peninsula being described as a glacial refuge of M-lineage diversity [ 89 , 90 ], while the two A. m. mellifera populations reflect distant (mel_rus) or isolated (mel_irl) populations, which may thus potentially have lost diversity through genetic drift during recolonization. In particular, in the case of the A. m. mellifera island population of Ireland, where limited human inference through importation, is suspected [ 43 , 91 ].…”

Unprecedented Density and Persistence of Feral Honey Bees in Urban Environments of a Large SE-European City (Belgrade, Serbia)

“…Both types of cavities are closely associated with human living spaces that are heated/insulated, hence energetically beneficial for the colony, especially during the winter [77]. The advantage of certain human-associated cavity types for honey bees has also been emphasized in a recent study from Ireland [78].…”

Population demography of feral honeybee colonies in central European forests

“…competition with other species for food and nest sites; [10,11]), so they should be considered in population censuses [12]. Furthermore, wild-living honeybee populations can be a reservoir of native and/or locally adapted genes and therefore deserve conservation [13][14][15][16][17][18]. Finally, studying the life of honeybees in the wild can help understand basic aspects of the species' ecology, which in turn can be relevant for apiculture (reviewed by [19]).…”

“…However, it is not clear whether the parasite inevitably causes naïve wild-living honeybees to go entirely extinct because, on the population level, frequent reproduction by established colonies might level out colony losses [28][29][30]. There is a growing number of reports from Europe documenting the occurrence of honeybee colonies nesting wild in various types of cavities and habitats [7,14,17,[31][32][33][34][35][36], but we currently lack detailed studies of their population dynamics.…”