The Discrimination of Artvin and Ardahan Honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) Using Morphological Characteristics

Authors: AHMET GÜLER, ETHEM AKYOL, MUSTAFA GÖKÇE, OSMAN KAFTANOĞLU

Abstract: This study was conducted to determine the morphological characteristics and to identify the honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) genotypes husbanded in the Artvin and Ardahan cities of the northeastern Anatolia Region. A total of 84 worker bee experimental samples were collected from 8 apiaries in different locations. From each sample 20 workers were used and 19 morphological characteristics were measured biometrically. Samples used were collected from 3 regions of Ardahan (Ardahan-Center, Posof-Yeniköy and Posof-Süngülü) and from 5 different regions of Artvin province (Hamurlu, Kaşıkçı, Borçka-Camili, Şavşat-Kocabey and Muratlı). As a result of discrimination analysis there was found to be no variation between bees from deffirent areas in T4 and cubital vein length a on the front wing. Though 7 discriminant functions were analysed, the first three functions accounted for 84.1% of the total variation. The 24 samples taken from Artvin Borçka-Camili and 10 samples from Ardahan-Center and 10 samples from Ardahan Posof-Yeniköy were completely classified into their real groups. Artvin Borçka-Camili, Ardahan-Center, Posof-Yeniköy samples were distinguished from other groups and formed a distinct group. Whereas, in the Hamurlu, Kaşıkçı, Şavşat-Kocabey and Muratlı populations the samples overlapped.

Keywords: Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.), Artvin and Ardahan Regions, Morphology, Discrimination.

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