A conservation strategy for Italian honey bees

The presence of different breeds of Apis mellifera in the same area can cause progressive hybridization between genetic types and issues of conservation of genetic diversity. This is due to the fact that a virgin queen freely mates only once in her life, in flight and with many drones (10–15) of potentially different varieties/ genetic types. For this reason, the introduction of mating control in beekeeping can be seen as a proper conservation approach to preserve biodiversity. In this study we propose a strategy to conserve diversity in honey bees by the use of isolated mating areas (IMA). The scheme involves the participation of numerous beekeepers who submit their best mother colonies to a test of conformity to the genetic type of interest. Secondly, batteries of sister virgins queens are obtained by each of the mother colonies that have passed the test and are then committed to the production of drones, the drone-producing queens (DPQ). It is very important that DPQs conserve the greatest possible genetic variability. Therefore, we recommend to increase the number of mother colonies instead of the number of queens, given the same number of DPQ. Subsequently, the DPQs are located in a well-defined IMA protected from the presence of other colonies of unknown variety, where interested beekeepers can bring their virgin queens for mating. From the synergy between the BEENOMIX Project (Regionally Funded project) and the AISSA association, three IMA have been created in Italy where beekeepers can bring their own mating nucleus. The three areas are located in San Pietro Island (South West Sardinia), Ponza Island (LT) and Val Bodengo (SO), to be activated in the next few years and are guaranteed by specific local ordinances.