A study of whether the genetic variation decreased or not in the protected Caucasian bee, Apis mellifera caucasica Pollmann, 1889 (Hymenoptera: Apidae) population in isolated regions

The Caucasian honeybee, Apis mellifera caucasica Pollmann, 1889 (Hymenoptera: Apidae), is one of the most productive bee subspecies. This subspecies, which has special importance for Turkiye, has been taken under protection in two isolated regions (Artvin and Ardahan) since 2000. To date, no study has been conducted on whether genetic diversity has decreased in these protected Caucasian honeybee colonies. Therefore in 2022, worker bees were collected from 100 different colonies in 15 different locations in these two regions and their genetic variations were examined using 30 microsatellite loci. The average number of alleles per locus was 13.57, and the loci had a high level of information content according to the PIC (0.7) value. FIS (0.96) and FST (0.01) values showed low genetic diversity and high inbreeding in populations. Genetic variations were calculated as 0.77% among populations, 99.23% among individuals in populations, and 0% among all individuals. Also, populations deviated from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p<0.001). Significant bottleneck evidence was found for Artvin in the analysis results using the two-phase mutation model. These results provide important information that can be used as a guide for Caucasian bee breeding strategies and conservation programs.