Increased levels of introgression evident in Irish honey bees

Abstract

Ireland is home to a significant population of the black bee, Apis mellifera mellifera, however, in recent years the numbers of imported queens have increased 10 fold and beekeepers are observing more bees that are not totally black. Here we confirm an increase in the proportion of introgressed honey bees in Ireland via multiple approaches. The use of colour and wing morphometrics is becoming less reliable in Ireland to identify native honey bees due to the increased presence of various hybrid phenotypes and genotypes.