Country specific hybridization of honey bees from lineage M.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Honey bees are essential pollinators supporting agricultural production and wild plant diversity. In evolutionary lineage M, some populations are threatened by genetic erosion caused by the widespread introduction of commercially bred queens. To assess this risk, wing images from existing and new datasets were used to assign them to four evolutionary lineages (A, C, M, and O). The new dataset consisted of 29,043 wing images representing 1,342 colony samples from ten countries. RESULTS: Overall, 63.7% of colonies belonged to lineage M, whereas 27.5% were classified as A, 7.9% as C, and 0.8% as O. Lineage M remains prevalent in unprotected populations in Portugal, Spain, and Ireland, as well as in protected populations elsewhere. In contrast, a pronounced decline was observed in unprotected populations in northeastern Poland. CONCLUSIONS: These findings reveal strong regional differences in the persistence of lineage M and underscore the need for coordinated conservation efforts throughout Europe. The data provided in this study should allow for more accurate discrimination between native and introduced phenotypes.