The Dilemma of Foreign or Alien Bees Part 2

In the last post I spoke a little about this dilemma amongst beekeepers, today I would like to go into it in a little more depth and let you know about the bees that are used in apiculture. The types of bees used are those which form beehives in cavities, are suitably productive and their behaviour should favour handling and management. There are two main types.
Apis mellifera: it is the bee that produces the common honey and is the most extensive type. It's natural habitat is in Europe, Africa and a part of Asia in addition it is the bee that was introduced into America, Australia and New Zealand by the Europeans. This type has numerous breeds and subspecies.
Apis cerana: it is the honey producing bee to be found in South and East Asia. It is known for having been the original carrier of the varroa mite for which this species is resistant enough to live in their ecosystem with it, developing hygienic behaviour still not found in the European bee. I will focus on the species Apis mellifera (as described above) and the most used by beekeepers: Italians, Caucasians and Carnicas. In Spain the main species is the Iberian mellifera a subspecies of the European black bee. To determine the breed of bees that adapt better to a beehive, first you must consider the advantages and disadvantages of each one.

The Italian Bees: this is the most popular breed and is yellowish or brown in colour or has brown or black stripes on its abdomen. The breeding season for the Italian bees starts at the beginning of spring and continues until the end of autumn, this means that there will be a large population of bees throughout the season. A large colony of bees can gather a considerable quantity of nectar in a relatively short period of time, productive, but they require more reserves of honey for the winter season or hibernation. Their behaviour in the honeycombs is generally calm and peaceful and they are relatively resistant to the European foulbrood (loque in Spanish). The Italian queen bees are considered as excellent and because of their lighter colour are more easily found in the honeycombs compared to the queens of darker breeds.                           
Disadvantages? Compared to other breeds they have a poor sense of direction and to put it another way they get lost easily and mistakenly enter other beehives which are not their own. This facilitates the spread of diseases, varroa, etc. and besides they have a strong inclination to steal the honey from other beehives.

The Caucasian Bees: In my opinion are the most docile bees. Their colour ranges from dark to black with grey bands around the abdomen. They are not great formers of swarms and they conserve their reserves of honey better than the  Italian breed. They work on the plants at temperatures somewhat lower, and in climatic conditions less favourable, than those in which the Italian bees work. They also show resistance to European foul brood.
Disadvantages: They make the honeycombs with burrs using great quantities of propolis (bee glue or hive dross) to hold the honeycombs and reduce the size of the entrance. They tend to drift away and also rob other beehives.

The Carnica Bees: They are dark bees and they spend the winter in small groups which means less reserves for this season of the year but their numbers increase rapidly in spring when the pollen becomes available in the countryside. They have adapted better to winter than other breeds, they aren't prone to robbing other beehives, they have a good sense of direction and are calm in the beehives.
Disadvantages: They are very prone to swarming.
Then there are hybrid breeds, fruit of crossing pure breeds with the intention of obtaining certain characteristics, amongst the many that there are I would highlight the Buckfast bees. This is a hybrid which has been selected during a long period of time from many strains of bees from the South West of England. They have shown that they are resistant to tracheal mite disease, more suited to cold climates, make good reserves of honey, create very good honeycombs and are very docile.
But what about the Canarian bees? They are dark, aren't aggressive and are good producers of honey. According to the latest that I read they belong to  the species Apis Mellifera Iberica (Spanish honeybees) and they originated from the North of Portugal. Throughout the years they have adapted to the climate and flora which means that they don't go away in winter and are working practically all the year round. With the incoming of different breeds of bees they have been producing some undesirable hybrids. On some islands there have been moves  to stop the import of bees from outside and they are working on the conservation of the local breed.  
                          

Ubicación: Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain