Spanish bee
Apis mellifera iberiensis, or the Spanish bee, is a western honey bee subspecies native to the Iberian Peninsula. It is also found on the Balearic Islands.
Apis mellifera iberiensis have a length of the forewings with an average of 9.226 mm and 3.098 mm while the width of the subspecies Apis mellifera mellifera is 9.381 mm and 3.0293 mm respectively.The first description of this bee of the Iberian Peninsula was published in the magazine Bee World, made by B. Adam.F. Ruttner described it in his book "Biogeography and Taxonomy of Honeybees." in base to the description of B. Adam, but like several authors prior to him (e.g., Goetze, 1964) erroneously equated this bee with the subspecies proposed by Skorikov (1929) as Apis mellifera iberica (Skorikov, however, proposed the name for a subspecies occurring in the Caucasus and based the name on the ancient Greco-Roman designation for the Georgian Kingdom, Caucasian Iberians, existing there in antiquity). Thus, the name as employed by Ruttner was an error, leaving Apis mellifera iberiensis as the only valid name for this subspecies of honey bees.B.Adam collect their views on a trip he made in 1959 to Spain and Portugal.
A. m. iberiensis has the body size of European subspecies with forewings narrower and wider abdomen. It is mostly dark brown to jet-black. The darkness is accentuated by the low tomentum and low hairiness. The queens are black almost uniform in color. They are prolific and with high fertility controlled by environmental conditions.The closing membrane of the cells is watery, the breeding is sensitive to some diseases.
This subspecies is well characterized towards the south and west of a line passing from Zaragoza to Barcelona in the Iberian Peninsula, belonging to the A lineage of Apis mellifera originating from Africa (formally mis-identified as belonging to the M Lineage originating from central Asia), colonizing Iberia across the Strait of Gibraltar.
They do not typically generate multiple queens (polygyny) in any given hive at swarming time.Their movements are fast and rather nervous. They exhibit quick defensive reaction, nervousness, and a propensity to swarm. They do make abundant use of propolis.One or two sentry bees are always present at the entrance of the hive. If the colony is disturbed, the sentries raise a persistent alarm. The hive attack anything that seems threatening for at least 24 hours.
