Thesis
Toward the Introduction of Apis Mellifera Pomonella: The Original Pollinator of Apples
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
2023
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000006345
Abstract
The introduction of a honey bee subspecies A.m. pomonella, described from the Tien Shan mountains of central Asia (Sheppard and Meixner 2003) is a potential source of novel characteristics/traits and alleles for domestic US honey bee populations. Selective breeding, propagation and distribution of honey bee queens plays an important role in sustaining beekeeping and pollination-dependent agriculture in the US. Accessing genetic diversity is critical for the success of honey bee breeding. Several factors have contributed to limit genetic diversity in US honey bee populations, including importation of only a portion of recognized Old World subspecies, reduction of commercial and feral honey bee populations due to the parasitic mite V. destructor, and queen breeding practices that rely on only a limited number of queen "mothers". This project focused on the introduction of A.m. pomonella, a cold-climate adapted honey bee originating in the wild apple forests of the Tien Shan Mountains and represents a starting point for a breeding initiative to establish a new strain in the US.
Metrics
5 File views/ downloads
24 Record Views
Details
- Title
- Toward the Introduction of Apis Mellifera Pomonella
- Creators
- Adam Scott Ware
- Contributors
- Walter S Sheppard (Advisor)Brandon K Hopkins (Committee Member)Richard Stanly Zack (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of Entomology
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 30
- Identifiers
- 99901087336801842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis