Qu Xinying, Zhang Xinru, Sun Tian, Qiu Zequn, Lu Qihuang, Bi Zhenghui, Qin Hanrong, Hu Junjun, Tang Peng, Cao Lianfei, Chen Xiao
State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China.
College of Bioscience and Resource Environment, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 102206, China.
Life (Basel). 2025 Feb 21;15(3):341. doi: 10.3390/life15030341.
Honey bees are crucial pollinators that play a vital role in maintaining ecological balance. The colonies of managed honey bees in China increased rapidly in the past 20 years. Whether the rapid increase in managed bee populations would affect the survival of wild honey bees deserves attention. There are four species of the genus in Guangxi, China, including , , , and . This study conducted an investigation on the biological characteristics of the four species and measured 40 morphological characteristics. The results showed that for the four species, their swarming periods, mating periods, the emergence of drones, and the nectar and pollen source plants highly overlap. This leads to potential competition for the optimum mating space, nectar, and pollen. The comparison of morphological traits between samples collected in 2012 and 2023 showed that the aspect ratios of the forewings of both and have significantly increased. This change may be attributed to the rapid increase in managed honey bees' populations, which has encroached upon the living spaces of and . The results of coefficient of variations showed that and exhibit high genetic diversity. Our results indicated that the increased colonies' number of managed honey bees has an effect on and , but they are not facing great threats to their survival. Continuous monitoring of the the diversity of and must be maintained. Preserving wild honey bees is of great significance for the ecological balance.
蜜蜂是至关重要的传粉者，在维持生态平衡方面发挥着关键作用。在过去20年里，中国养殖蜜蜂的蜂群数量迅速增加。养殖蜜蜂数量的快速增长是否会影响野生蜜蜂的生存值得关注。中国广西有该属的四个物种，包括[具体物种1]、[具体物种2]、[具体物种3]和[具体物种4]。本研究对这四个物种的生物学特性进行了调查，并测量了40个形态特征。结果表明，对于这四个物种，它们的分蜂期、交配期、雄蜂出现时间以及花蜜和花粉源植物高度重叠。这导致了在最佳交配空间、花蜜和花粉方面的潜在竞争。对2012年和2023年采集样本的形态特征比较表明，[物种1]和[物种2]的前翅长宽比均显著增加。这种变化可能归因于养殖蜜蜂数量的快速增长，这已经侵占了[物种1]和[物种2]的生存空间。变异系数结果表明，[物种1]和[物种2]表现出高遗传多样性。我们的结果表明，养殖蜜蜂蜂群数量的增加对[物种1]和[物种2]有影响，但它们并未面临巨大的生存威胁。必须持续监测[物种1]和[物种2]的多样性。保护野生蜜蜂对生态平衡具有重要意义。
