Russian Lines

In beekeeping, the Russian bee usually refers to the Russian (Primorsky) line, taken from the Primorsky region of the Russian Far East and selected in the USA for varroa resistance. This bee is not a separate subspecies but a line developed from a population that has lived with varroa for a long time. It is known for slower mite build-up, thrifty overwintering and brood rearing closely tied to forage; on the other hand, it is prone to swarming.

Is the Russian bee a subspecies?

The name "Russian bee" can be confusing, because there is no single bee subspecies in Russia. Very different bees live in this vast country:

• Central Russian bee: the European dark bee (A. m. mellifera) populations of Russia's forest belt; very well adapted to long, cold winters. The Burzyan wild bee in the southern Urals is a protected example.
• Bees of Caucasian origin: the grey mountain bees of the North Caucasus (A. m. caucasia); distributed over large areas in the Soviet era.
• Far Eastern (Primorsky) bees: populations brought to the region by settlers in the nineteenth century, formed from a mix of European bees of different origins.

In international beekeeping, "Russian bee" usually means the line selected from the last of these. This page mainly describes that line.

How did the Russian (Primorsky) bee come about?

The Primorsky region on Russia's Pacific coast overlaps with the range of the Asian honey bee (Apis cerana), the original host of the varroa mite. In this region, thought to be one of the first places where the mite jumped to the Western honey bee, bees of European origin have lived with varroa for much longer than bees in Europe.

Reasoning that this long shared history might have produced resistance through natural selection, the US Department of Agriculture's honey bee breeding laboratory in Baton Rouge brought queens from Primorsky in 1997. After quarantine and island trials, the line was selected for varroa resistance and later released to queen breeders in the USA. Today the purity of the line is maintained by breeders' associations.

The Russian bee's resistance to varroa

Controlled field trials have shown that varroa numbers increase markedly more slowly in Primorsky colonies than in comparison colonies. This resistance does not come from a single trait but from several mechanisms working together:

• Grooming: bees remove mites from their bodies and damage them.
• Hygienic behaviour: they uncap and clean out mite-infested brood cells.
• Suppressed mite reproduction: the proportion of mites able to reproduce in capped cells is low.
• Forage-dependent brood rearing: brood declines when forage stops, which also reduces the amount of brood in which mites can multiply.

The Russian bee has also been reported to be resistant to the tracheal mite.

Other traits of the Russian bee

• Thrifty overwintering: goes into winter with a small cluster and consumes few stores; adapted to cold regions.
• Build-up tightly linked to forage: does not increase brood rearing much until pollen and nectar come in; grows quickly once forage opens up.
• Constant queen cells: colonies tend to keep queen cells throughout the season, mostly on the upper part of the frames. These cells do not always mean swarm preparation; but once swarming starts, the colony is ready.
• Swarming tendency: higher than Italian lines; it can quickly switch into swarming mode when forage is plentiful.
• Temperament: varies by line; reported to be somewhat more defensive than Italian lines.

Russian bee vs Italian and Carniolan bees

Management notes for working with Russian bees

1. Interpret queen cells: single cells on the upper part may be normal; many cells along the bottom edge together with lack of space mean swarm preparation.
2. Check often in swarm season: inspect every seven days, add a box before space runs short, and make a split if needed.
3. Wait for forage in spring: the colony does not grow before forage arrives; if you are targeting an early flow, support it by feeding.
4. Keep doing mite counts: resistance varies with line and mating; base your decisions on count results.
5. Pay attention to controlled mating: with open mating, daughter queens mate with local drones and resistance can weaken over time.

Are Russian bees used in Türkiye?

The Russian (Primorsky) line is not widespread in Türkiye, and bringing live bees or queens into the country requires a permit. Bringing bees from elsewhere into Artvin and Ardahan, the gene centre of the Caucasian bee, is completely prohibited. In Türkiye, the most realistic route to varroa resistance is to select, within local Anatolian and Caucasian colonies, those with low mite build-up and strong hygienic behaviour, and to rear queens from them. The Russian bee's story is valuable because it shows that natural selection can strengthen resistance in populations that have lived with the mite for a long time.