Založba Univerze v Ljubljani / University of Ljubljana Press
Doi
Abstract
Apis mellifera carnica is a honey bee subspecies, first described by Pollmann in 1879. Its original habitat since the last glaciation is Balkan Peninsula with neighbouring regions. Slovenia is often mentioned as a homeland of Carniolan honey bee although it is evident that natural habitat of A. m. carnica, is much bigger and that Slovenia sits at the western edge of its areal. Due to its soft temper, adaptation to extreme low temperatures, good honey production in spring and summer (mainly produced on coniferous trees), Carniolan honey bee is in many countries well accepted and popular honey bee variety. In this study we present a different approaches for characterization of Carniolan honey bee in its home country, Slovenia and compare some traits with populations in the neighbouring countries. In this review we present genetic data (microsatellites and mtDNA sequences), bioinformatics analysis of available DNA sequence data, phenotypic characterisation using cubital index and lengths of tibia and proboscis, proteomic analysis of royal jelly as well as analysis of dancing behaviour
