Does Kangaroo Island truly have a pure strain of Ligurian bee?

[omnimirage]

I hear this said a lot, but after reading some articles it appears that this might not be true. Allegedly, they might have had some Apis mellifera mellifera present on the Island before the Italians arrived. I'm not sure what to believe, does anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Skeggley]

Reportedly the last pure strain of Ligurian on Earth!
I read that black bees were kept on the island prior to it becoming a bee sanctuary in 1885. The black bee hive was swapped for a Ligurian strain in 1884 but am unsure whether it had swarmed prior to this. ;)
Regardless, since 1885 no other strain of bees have been added to the genetics so it won't get much purer than that.

[max2]

DNA testing would tell and I have my doubts.

Is a " pure starin"  really what we want? or does this also mean limited genetics?

People here in Qld have purchased some of the queens and I have heard of cases where this was not a successful move - eg the bees replaced the queen .

[eltalia]

Reportedly the last pure strain of Ligurian on Earth!
I read that black bees were kept on the island prior to it becoming a bee sanctuary in 1885. The black bee hive was swapped for a Ligurian strain in 1884 but am unsure whether it had swarmed prior to this. ;)
Regardless, since 1885 no other strain of bees have been added to the genetics so it won't get much purer than that.

I made comment on the topic over in that "Bee Genetics" thread Skeggsie... take a moment to
think about what beekeepers to KI did between 1884 and 1934 - when legislation decreed
purity (FFS) - and I reckon you will reach your own conclusion, as a beekeeper.

Bill

[little john]

I hear this said a lot, but after reading some articles it appears that this might not be true. Allegedly, they might have had some Apis mellifera mellifera present on the Island before the Italians arrived. I'm not sure what to believe, does anyone have any thoughts on this?

My thoughts are: "does it really matter ?"  i.e. - are you a beekeeper, or a research geneticist ?  Even if they are 100% 'pure', they ain't gonna stay that way for very long in an average apiary.

If they're 'good' (undefined) bees - and available at an affordable price - then go for it ...
LJ

[awootton]

Koulianos, S., Crozier, R. (1996) Mitochondrial DNA sequence
data provides further evidence that the honeybees
of Kangaroo Island, Australia are of hybrid origin.
Apidologie 27, 165?174

Oldroyd, B.P., Sheppard,W.S., Stelzer, J.A. (1993) Genetic
characterization of the bees of Kangaroo Island, South
Australia. J. Apic. Res. 31, 141?148

N CHAPMAN, B HARPUR, J LIM,T RINDERER, M ALLSOPP, A ZAYED,  B OLDROYD (2016)
Hybrid origins of Australian honeybees (Apis mellifera )
Apidologie  47:26?34

[max2]

Thanks, awootton - all mutts - more or less interesting read

[eltalia]

author=little john link=topic=50914.msg447850#msg447850
If they're 'good' (undefined) bees - and available at an affordable price - then go for it ...
LJ

.... concur where defined "mutts" (thanks @max2  ) are offered
by the breeder known to produce reliable lines on selection.
Folk in WA and I believe Tassie do not have that opportunity so
the poor beggars are stuck with local "mutts"... heh :-)

Bill