Dark European Bee

The dark bee (German black bee) is the name mostly used in beekeeping sources for the European dark bee (Apis mellifera mellifera), the native bee of Western and Northern Europe. It is a dark, large, hairy, thrifty bee, hardy in cold, damp climates. In everyday speech, however, any dark-coloured bee may be called a "dark bee" or "black bee"; yet the dark bees in Türkiye are mostly Anatolian, Caucasian or Carniolan types, and the dark bee does not occur naturally in Türkiye.

What does "dark bee" mean?

The name "dark bee" (or "black bee") is used in two different senses. This confusion can lead to wrong expectations when buying and selling bees and in conversation:

• As a subspecies name: in beekeeping textbooks and subspecies tables, the "dark bee" or "German black bee" refers to the subspecies A. m. mellifera. The same bee is also called the European dark bee, the black bee or the Northern European black bee; details are on the European Dark Bee page in the library.
• In everyday language: some beekeepers call yellow-banded bees "yellow bees" and dark native bees "dark bees" or "black bees". This usage describes only colour, not a subspecies.

If a producer is selling "dark queens", always ask which subspecies and which region they mean. Almost all dark queens sold in Türkiye are from native or Carniolan-origin lines.

Where does the dark bee (European dark bee) live?

The natural range of the dark bee is a broad belt starting north and west of the Alps and stretching from the Pyrenees to the Ural Mountains: France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, the British Isles, Ireland, southern Scandinavia, Poland and the forest belt of Russia. It belongs to the Western and Northern European (M) lineage.

In Russia, populations of this subspecies are known as the Central Russian bee. The wild bees kept by traditional methods in tree hollows in the Burzyan area of Bashkortostan also belong to this group and are protected.

How do you recognise a dark bee?

• Colour: dark brown to black; the abdomen has no yellow band, or only a very faint one.
• Build: large and broad-bodied, with a thick abdomen.
• Hair: long, dense cover hairs; narrow hair bands on the abdominal segments.
• Tongue: short compared with other European subspecies.
• Wing measurements: the cubital index calculated from the wing veins is low and the discoidal shift is mostly negative; these measurements are used to identify the subspecies.

Traits of the dark bee

Generalisations that the dark bee is a "calm" or "low-maintenance" subspecies are not accurate. Selected pure lines can be calm; but unselected populations, and especially colonies mixed with imported subspecies, are markedly defensive.

Why did the dark bee decline, and how is it being protected?

After heavy colony losses in Britain in the early twentieth century, bees were imported on a large scale. In continental Europe too, the Carniolan and Italian bees were preferred for their calmness and fast spring build-up. As a result, the dark bee hybridised and lost its pure form across most of its natural range.

Today, many countries keep the dark bee alive through:

• Protected areas: regions on islands and in mountain valleys where only dark bees are kept have been established; the island of Læsø in Denmark is one of the best-known examples.
• Isolated mating stations: in Alpine valleys, mating takes place only with selected dark bee drones.
• Purity checks: breeder colonies are verified by wing measurements and genetic testing.

Is the dark bee found in Türkiye? Dark native bees

The dark bee (A. m. mellifera) does not occur naturally in Türkiye. Bees that look "dark" in Türkiye usually belong to these subspecies:

The dark bee's lesson for beekeepers in Türkiye

The story of the dark bee shows how a local bee can decline in the face of imported subspecies. Türkiye's native bees are under similar pressure: uncontrolled queen trading and migratory beekeeping are mixing the Anatolian and Caucasian bees. There is no need to bring the dark bee into Türkiye, and doing so carries a risk of hybridisation with native subspecies; what really needs to be done is to protect, select and improve the native bee adapted to its region.