Egyptian bee

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Egyptian bee
Systematics
without rank: Bees (Apiformes)
Family : Apidae
Subfamily : Apinae
Genre : Honey bees ( apis )
Type : Western honey bee ( Apis mellifera )
Subspecies : Egyptian bee
Scientific name
Apis mellifera lamarckii
Cockerell , 1906

The Egyptian bee ( Apis mellifera lamarckii ) is a subspecies of the honey bee that is native to the Nile Valley in Egypt and Sudan . It was named after Jean-Baptiste Lamarck . An outdated name is Apis fasciata (Latreille 1804). Beekeeping in ancient Egypt with this honeybee subspecies probably existed as early as 3000 BC. Chr.

description

Apis mellifera lamarckii is a small and dark subspecies of the western honey bee with a yellow abdomen . It builds smaller colonies than its relatives in Europe. It does not collect propolis and does not form a winter cluster for thermoregulation when it is brought to colder regions. The bee prefers a warm climate and water. For this reason, the Nile Delta is particularly well suited for beekeeping, where water is also abundant. In the past 20 years, the Egyptian bee has been largely displaced in both of its home countries. While around 96,000 colonies of this breed were kept in 1995, their number fell to 15,500 in 2005.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Birgit Sonja after work: Bee and honey in pharaonic Egypt. Volume 2, p. 29.
  2. M. Serpico, R. White In: PT Nicholson, I. Shaw (Ed.): Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. Cambridge 2000, p. 409.
  3. The Lamarkij Bees , accessed on January 4, 2019