56 days) in response to dearth of floral resources. We found that worker longevity in the gAHB colonies increases in the wet season (maximum longevity ca. Here we use an island population of AHB in Puerto Rico (gAHB) to test the capacity of tropical-adapted honey bees to alter their longevity in different seasons, as well as under brood manipulation. While tropical regions do not experience winters as temperate zones do, seasonal changes in the abundance of floral resources cause variation in brood levels throughout the year. In the temperate regions, honey bee colonies become broodless in winter. A drastic increase in longevity during broodless periods is crucial to colony survival. The expansion of AHB has been constrained in temperate climates generally thought to be because of a lack of key adaptations required for successful overwintering. The resulting Africanized honey bees (AHBs) have spread through the continental tropics of the Western Hemisphere. Upon their first introduction to Americas in 1956, African honey bees (Apis mellifera scutellata) hybridized with the previously introduced and already established European honey bees (EHBs). Our results suggest that gAHB may represent a new ecotype of Apis mellifera. The gAHB population have diverged from its origin (Texas) and is a population with a distinct stable genetic structure. The ancestral parental gAHB came from Texas. AHB on PR hybridized with EHB and processes of local selection and extraordinary features of the island resulted in an “island bee” currently called gAHB. Our results support the hypothesis that the Texas AHB population is the source of gAHB in Puerto Rico. Texas and PR groups are the closest genetically. The gAHB population is shown to be a single population that differs genetically from the examined populations of AHB. We compared gAHB to populations that span the current distribution of A.
We used 917 SNPs to examine the population structure, genetic differentiation, origin, and history of range expansion and colonization of gAHB in PR.
AHB in Puerto Rico shows a major distinctive characteristic, docile behavior, and is called gentle Africanized honey bees (gAHB). The honey bee population on the island acquired a mosaic of features from AHB or the European honey bee (EHB). AHB has spread since then, arriving to Puerto Rico (PR) in 1994. The result of this hybridization was called Africanized honey bee (AHB). For the last 60 years, it hybridized successfully with European subspecies, previous residents in the area. scutellata originated in Africa and was introduced to the Americas in 1956. Honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) are the primary commercial pollinators across the world.
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