Apis mellifera adami is a western honey bee subspecies, endemic to the island of Crete in the eastern Mediterranean.
| Cretan honey bee | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Apidae |
| Genus: | Apis |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | A. m. adami
|
| Trinomial name | |
| Apis mellifera adami Ruttner, 1975
| |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Taxonomy edit
The Apis mellifera adami was classified by Ruttner 1975 and named by him after Brother Adam.[2]
Research in 2003 concluded that "the honey bee from Crete seems to be similar to the honey bee populations from other areas of Greece" while yet acknowledging that their genetic structures had most likely been changed over the past two decades due to migratory beekeeping and commercial breeding, concluding that there seemed to be no pure populations of A. m. adami left on the island.[3]
Beekeeping edit
Western Cretan beehives are constructed of terracotta, wood and wicker. On the east of the island the hives are always ceramic.[4]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Apis mellifera adami". ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. The National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
- ^ Friedrich Ruttner (1980). "Apis mellifera adami (n. ssp.) Die Kretische Biene" (PDF). Apidologie. 11 (4): 385–400. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
- ^ P Harizanis, Iera Odos Genetic structure of the bee from Crete island (Greece) Apidologie (2003) 2012 Mendeley Ltd [Retrieved 2011-12-20]
- ^ L.Nixon sphakia.classics.ox.ac.uk (Oxford University website) Archived 2007-10-18 at the Wayback Machine The Sphakia survey [Retrieved 2011-12-20] cited also: Baumann, Hellmut 1993. Greek Wild Flowers, London: Herbert.
Friedrich Ruttner (1975). Die Kretische Biene, Apis mellifica adami [The Cretan bee]. Deutsche Allgemeine Imkerzeitung, 9 (10), pp. 271–272.
External links edit
- A.Gönülşen THE MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY FEATURE EXTRACTION OF HONEYBEE FOREWINGS AND HINDLEGS USING IMAGE PROCESSING AND ACTIVE CONTOURS Middle East Technical University2004 [Retrieved 2011-12-20] thesis states that A.m.adamii populate Cyprus
- Elderkin, G. W. (1939). "The Bee of Artemis". The American Journal of Philology. 60 (2): 203–213. doi:10.2307/291201. JSTOR 291201.