Morphological characters of the honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) of the Artvin Borcka-Camili (Macahel) region

Abstract

This study was conducted in order to determine the morphological characters of the honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) and to identify the genotype grown in the Camili area of the northeastern Anatolian region. A total of 24 experimental samples were collected from 3 apiaries in different locations. From each sample, 20 workers were examined and 29 morphological characters were measured biometrically. There were significant differences between the apiaries with respect to: the length of the femur, width of tergite 3, width of tergite 4, length of the wax plate of sternite 3 (longitudinal), width of the forewing, length of the hind leg and overall body size (T-3+T-4) This genotype was found to have uniform colour, a long wing and tongue, medium-length hair on tergite 5, short legs and a low tomentum index. On the basis of these results, it was concluded that this genotype is an ecotype of Apis mellifera caucasica G. owing to the ecological features of the geographical region in which this genotype occurs.