23-08-2018
Resilient line of Crimean honey bees being bred at Vernadsky CFU

 

Researchers at Taurida Academy’s Department of Ecology and Zoology have started to breed a high-potential line of Crimean honey bees which are characterised as being friendly, peace-loving, high-yielding and can collect the nectar secreted by the plants at high temperatures.

Studying beekeeping sites in the forests of the Crimean Mountains, researchers discovered an apiary with colonies showing characteristics that differ from the characteristics of other honey bee populations.

Based on the bee families of that apiary, researchers are working to breed a line of honey bees with high honey productivity that are also winter-hardy, resistant to diseases and are able to collect nectar at elevated temperatures, which is particularly important due to global warming.

According to Tamara Bykova, Researcher and PhD student at Taurida Academy’s Faculty of Biology and Chemistry, the research comprises two stages: a morphometric analysis of the experimental honey bees’ morphological characteristics followed by a genetic analysis that will allow researchers to identify, at molecular level, whether the DNA of those bees has any unique features.

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